Bleach: Ten Years
by Divine-Faithborn
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki sacrificed his shinigami powers to defeat Aizen, but he spent too long in his spirit form and his body burned itself out. Ten years have passed and Soul Society now faces a threat even greater than the winter war. -discontinued-
1. Chapter 1 promise of return

**Author note: **

**Howdy ya'll this is Divine-Faithborn and this is my first fanfiction. I live in Texas so if I accidently apply a southern draw to my works please point it out. This is a "what if" concept I thought of after reading chapter 422 so it diverts from canon there. I wrote up a basic progression outline and arc and figured it would make a nice story. Please be nice and review, but let me know if there are any plot holes or mistakes that I need to fix. I will try to update as often as possible, while maintaining quality, but I'm a college student so that may not always be possible. **

**Rated "m" for violence, language, and maybe... _probably not but maybe_... other stuffs. There will be a few OC's but nothing major. Oh, and there is character death so if your favorite character goes I apologize.**

**Edit: oh, and heres how speech text works:**

"words" - normal talking

_words _- thoughts

**words **- Ichigo's hollow

**_words _**- Zangetsu

**Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (asides from maybe 1 or 2 OCs - but I digress); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Chapter one - promise of return

Ichigo sat on a rock as he talked with Urahara. Aizen had been beaten; Ichigo's final getsuga tensho had wounded him to the point that Urahara's kido spell had been able to seal him away. Despite their victory, Urahara had known that Ichigo had burned out his powers as a shinigami.

"Are you sure that you don't want to return to your body right now?" asked Urahara, "you did what you had to, but every second you spend in spirit form causes significant damage to your soul."

"Not yet," said Ichigo, eyes filled with resolve," I want to see Rukia one last time in her spirit form."

As if on cue, his best friends appeared next to him. They were beaten up but still there. Ichigo stared them down as a smile broke across his face and he called out their names. Renji, Chad, Rukia, Ishida, Inoue; his friends had returned to him finally.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked as he got up off the rock he was sitting on, "is it ok for you all to be up like this?"

"That's my line," said Rukia, who had a purely ecstatic smile.

"I knew it was you Kurosaki-kun," cried a happy Orihime, tears visibly falling from her eyes," your hair was long so I thought I was seeing things."

The group had stopped about six feet away from Ichigo Kurosaki, intent on letting the women have their moment with the savior of soul society.

"Geez, what a face you're making, Inoue!" laughed Ichigo," I know my hair's a mess though..."

Suddenly Ichigo collapsed mid-sentence, going to his knees. He felt his already weakened reiatsu shudder and begin dying out. The embers that had kept him there had chosen a terrible time to turn to ash. He propped himself on his left arm as he heard his friends cry him name in terror and confusion.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" screamed his raven-haired friend as Rukia reached for him with her good hand. Ichigo looked up and extended his right arm weakly as he tried to make contact with the outstretched arm.

"Seems my time here is up," sighed Ichigo as he breathed heavily, "I won't let myself be consumed here though." Black dust began to swirl around Ichigo as his vision slowly faded.

"What's going on?" shouted Ishida as the group ran towards Ichigo.

"I'll answer that," said the man with a green and white striped hat. "in order to defeat Aizen Ichigo unleashed the final form of his zanpokuto, Zangetsu. In doing so he willingly burned out his own soul reaper powers to save soul society. The embers that kept him alive have burned out."

"He's dying?" shouted Renji, a look of pure fear painting his face," Damn that bastard. It didn't have to be this way!"

By now the black dust had picked up and forced the group back several feet. It raged in a small cyclone and obscured their vision of him. The winds were loud enough that he couldn't hear anything either. Ichigo sighed as he accepted his fate; he had only one regret in that he would never see his friends again. Suddenly a power pulsed in his weak hands. He knew the feeling as he put them out in front of him and shouted out...

"ZANGETSU"

With the name of his sword called out he felt it form in his hands. It's familiar grip was a comfort until the end. Yet as Ichigo sat there on his knees he felt his sword call out to him. He quickly entered his spirit world as the dust continued to swirl around him.

* * *

When he opened his eyes he found himself amongst the familiar skyscrapers of Karakura town in his mind. He looked around to see that slowly the world was collapsing on itself. A grey dust cloud was slowly approaching him and consuming everything in its path. Ichigo didn't have to ask, he knew it was death consuming him. Then a familiar voice sounded from behind him, Zangetsu.

"Even though your world is collapsing, there is no rain" said the old man as he walked towards him. Ichigo looked behind him to see his black and white hollow, also walking towards him.

"Guys, what is the meaning of this?" Ichigo asked.

"**Quite simple, king**," his hollow replied, "**if you die, we die as well. Since we were born together we found it fitting to spend the end together**."

At this point they were next to each other. Ichigo sat down next to them as they did the same. A solemn look upon all three faces as they formed a triangle so they could see each other.

"That's great guys, but I made a promise that I wouldn't die here" sighed Ichigo.

"_**And how do you plan on doing that?**_" asked Zangetsu. For the zanpokuto that knew everything, he didn't know a way out. Still, he would listen to Ichigo in his final minutes.

At this point the dust wave was about a mile from them and approaching rapidly. They would be consumed in less than five minutes. Ichigo's hollow knew this as he sighed and spoke up.

"**We're running out of time king**," he said in an alarmed tone, "**what's your plan?**"

"We can't run," Ichigo sighed," so the only way to do this is stand firm."

"**You're fucking crazy, you know that king?**" asked the hollow as he pointed at Ichigo. Zangetsu laughed at the comment as he eyed the storm. They had about a minute left.

"Stop calling me king," said an irritated Ichigo, who suddenly grabbed the hollows outstretched arm with his hand. "When we survive this and it's over we'll rethink this partnership."

Zangetsu and the hollow both noticed the word that Ichigo had said - when they survived, not if they survived. Ichigo had no doubt in his heart anymore, his resolve was iron.

"_**Bold move Ichigo, with your resolve there can be no doubt in the plan**_," said Zangetsu as he extended his arms. "_**We stand our ground. No matter what happens we do not let go. No matter how long we will weather this storm. Now lock arms!**_"

Ichigo and the hollow extended their arms to Zangetsu as they locked arms. Not a second later the dust wave hit them. It felt like a ton of bricks had just smashed into Ichigo, repeatedly. Ichigo felt his grip weaken then he tightened it remembering Zangetsu's words. Suddenly the force of the wave stopped and he opened his eyes. The wave had parted where the triangle of arms stretched. The dust moved around them harmlessly as it wiped the spirit world clean. Zangetsu and the hollow also opened their eyes to the storm.

"**What the fuck is going on?**" asked the hollow as he eyed the sky.

"_**I have no clue,**_" said Zangetsu," _**what do you think Ichigo?**_"

"I think our hollow needs a name," laughed Ichigo, "something like whitey."

"**Shut up bastard,**" barked the hollow angrily as Zangetsu laughed. The hollow was contemplating the words that Ichigo had said. Sure the hollow wanted to be king, but he had also told Ichigo of his greatest wish, to protect the young shinigami. It may mean that he would never have the thrown, but maybe Ichigo would let him out more often. He had a lot of time to think about it though; they were going to be in there a long time...

* * *

The black cyclone around Ichigo's body receded as his friends looked at him. He looked serene as his hands lay on Zangetsu which was propped on the floor. His eyes were closed but they could not see his face, for his hollow mask covered it. Suddenly he began to fade away, his body flaking into dust as it scattered into the wind.

"Kurosaki-kun!" screamed a devastated Orihime. She ran to him as tears flew from her eyes. She hadn't thought it possible to cry more than she had when Ichigo had transformed to defeat Ulquiorra, yet she was.

The rest of the gang wasn't silent either, they had tried to reach out to him but Urahara blocked their path with his cane as if to tell them to wait.

"Ichigo," whispered Rukia as tears fell from her eyes and splattered on her cast. "That fool sacrificed everything to save us. We didn't deserve him."

Suddenly Ichigo opened his eyes and shocked the group. Black dust continued to flake off of him as he evaporated. His mask and sword fell to the ground as he became unrecognizable. He quietly said one thing before he disappeared completely, leaving his mask and sword to clatter onto the ground.

"I will return"


	2. Chapter 2 Ten Years

**A/N: Wow guys, at the time of uploading this one the story has over 200 views, 5 reviews, 5 favorites, and 3 alerts! That makes me a very happy person. this chapter is just under 3k words including the A/N, which I must say is a monster of a chapter in my mind. I'm currently working on chapter 3, but I need to rewrite and edit the heck out of that chapter because the pacing, scene, and mood are all wrong. No guarantees on any timeframe yet (it needs that much work)**

**First off a warning, the second scene in this chapter is going to be very dark (sorry but what better way to create the whole hell on earth portrait than creating hell on earth), so I apologize. I don't plan on making the entire story as dark as this one though, thats just creepy. You could probably skip the second scene and it would take alot of the bite out of the chapter, but it would hurt the backstory - it's kind of like that CoD:MW2 scene. I wanted to set the stage in a world where the polish of regulations and tradition had been worn away over time, and on that note I think I succeeded.**

**Also, I want to answer at least 1 review question each time, so... Yes there will be a little IchiHime, but the main focus is IchiRuki. I have **_other_** plans for Orihime *evil grin***

Heres how speech text works:

"words" - normal talking

_words _- thoughts

**words **- Ichigo's hollow

**_words _**- Zangetsu

**Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (asides from maybe 1 or 2 OCs - but I digress); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Chapter two - ten years later

"Captain Abarai!" screamed a female shinigami as a hollow tore her in two, killing her instantly.

"Damn it!" shouted Renji as he swung Zabimaru into the hollow. The blade sliced into the hollow's mask as he pulled back and shattered it. Immediately afterwards the hollow evaporated. He didn't have time to grieve, however, as hollows continued to pour into the Seireitei. He was used to it though; ten years ago he would have been shocked out of his mind at the amount of hollows that had suddenly appeared. Now it was a commonplace. Hollow attacks on soul society had been on the rise ever since Ichigo's death, arrancars would even lead swarms of hollows in raids. Soul society could not even go a week without some ridiculously large hollow attack raising hell and killing people. Even earth had suffered tremendously in the past ten years.

_If only Ichigo were here, _Renji thought to himself. Then he remembered that his old friend had gone to a better place. Anywhere was better than the hell that the worlds had become. Death and decay hovered around Earth and Soul Society, painting the worlds in a sad parody of its former glory. One day it would be his turn and he would join his friend wherever he had gone. Renji sighed as he remembered how the world had gone to hell since Ichigo died.

* * *

Ichigo hadn't even been dead for a year when the seeds of world war three were sowed. Soul Society had cared little for the politics of the world of the living, but when a third world nation decided to invade another nation all hell broke loose. The smaller nations had dragged larger nations like the United States, Russia, and China into the war and before long the world was covered in bloodshed. In less than a year nearly three quarters of the world were locked in a death grip as super powers wrestled for control of increasingly scarce resources like food and oil. Two years into the conflict the population of the living on earth had dwindled from over six billion to just below three billion, nearly half the world had been killed in warfare or the resulting conditions. Soul Society had already been stretched thin due to the winter war with Aizen, it simply could not handle the sheer numbers of new souls that had flooded into both Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. The Soul King had nearly been destroyed as it tried to control the balance of energies in the three worlds.

Then, three years into the war, one of the super powers had decided to use nuclear weaponry. No one knew who launched the first atomic, but within minutes the skies bled red as billions died in seconds. Days after the first missile had been launched, the population of the earth had dropped to just above 900 million. In three short years, the Earth had nearly extinguished itself as it entered a peaceful dark age. Governments had been shattered, civilization lied in ruins, and none of the many factions had bothered to continue the war. The earth itself had barely avoided a nuclear winter when Commander Yamamoto sacrificed himself to purify the world of the nuclear fallout. A small half a year of relative calm filled the Seireitei as the senseless slaughter finally subsided, but then the new hollows arrived.

The war had been cruel, but what was worse was the effect it had on the deceased souls. Soul society had been rebuilding since the winter war but it was vastly unprepared for the unfathomably large amount of souls that had died. Not all the souls had joined soul society though; most of them had been reborn as hollows due to the malice and animosity of dying in war. Strong souls fed on the nearly limitless supply of weaker souls and bred hollows far more foul than ever before. Thanks to all the death, the hollows of today were significantly more of a threat than the hollows of the past; they were stronger, faster, smarter, and more resilient to damage. They were also unending in number, even though soul society still had the edge in combat the numbers of hollows were wearing them down. All the death had accelerated their growth exponentially, easily dwarfing the threat posed by Aizen.

Although world war three had ended and the earth survived, Soul Society was locked in a brutal war with Hueco Mundo. Every day soul reapers died controlling the hollows that appeared on earth and in the Rukongai. Eventually the Central 46 gave up trying to control the Gotei 13 with laws and regulations. Soul Society had been under martial law for nearly seven years. The realm had been worn ragged from the relentless hollows that it had to deal with and it carried the scars. So many of Renji's friends and comrades had died in the past ten years that sometimes wondered if he would be the next in line. Some soldiers, like Captain Sajin Konamura simply disappeared without a trace. Others, like his former lieutenant had been mercilessly torn apart in front of him. People had died that didn't deserve it, but that was life today.

* * *

Renji continued to fight the hoards of hollows that had invaded that night. He sighed as he thought about the day as he slashed through the hollows with Zabimaru now in his Shikai form. Why, of all nights, did they have to attack on the day that Ichigo had died? Suddenly his thoughts were cut short as a wave of ice crashed against the hollows he was about to attack.

"Toshiro!" he shouted in relief as he turned to the white haired teenager. In the past ten years Toshiro Hitsugaya had aged into a fine young man, roughly the height of Ichigo and covered with his trademark white hair. Toshiro Hitsugaya wielded Hyorinmaru with skill that rivaled that of the eldest and strongest shinigami still in service of the Gotei 13, and held a rank to befit it. He carried a scowl similar to Ichigo and was well built for his age, asides from a single blade scar over his right eye Hitsugaya's face looked as though it had never been cut – surprising considering all the fighting he had done on earth during the third world war.

"Its commander Hitsugaya damn it!" swore Hitsugaya, "An arrancar has broken off from the pack. It's moving towards the winter war memorial. You are to break off and stop it at all costs."

Renji knew the memorial. He had helped build it with his friends for the late Ichigo Kurosaki after the war. It was a popular spot for people at the soul academy to visit. It was located on the very spot where he had disappeared into the wind those long years ago. The rock he had been sitting on had been removed in favor of a large bronze statue of him. Even though it was officially dedicated to the shinigami that had fallen in the winter war most captains knew that it was largely a shrine in honor of Ichigo Kurosaki.

Rukia had cared for the memorial ever since Ichigo died. She had spent a large amount of the Kuchiki family wealth to help fund the building, and even though it was only moderately sized many people regarded it as one of the greatest monuments in Soul Society. It even carried the sword and mask that Ichigo Kurosaki had left behind when he died.

The raven haired shinigami had been devastated by Ichigo's death. She blamed himself for the longest time for causing his death. In Rukia's mind, if she had not given Ichigo his first soul reaper powers she would still have been with them. Unlike most shinigami, she did not suffer much from the war. Her wounds had been delivered when the substitute shinigami left them ten years ago. Renji had been the big brother for her to cry on. He once harbored romantic feelings for her but it would probably never evolve past that anymore. Renji felt that any advances on her would be betraying Ichigo's memory. He did not even have much time to think about it though, because most of his time was spent training new recruits and stemming the unyielding tide of hollows.

"But what's at the shrine?" asked Captain Abarai as he sealed Zabimaru, neglecting to mention that Rukia had been staying there that night in memorial to their friend.

"The sword and mask you idiot!" replied Hitsugaya as he froze a wave of hollows in front of him.

_Oh shit_, Renji thought to himself. When Ichigo had died he left behind his sword and mask. Normally the zanpokuto died with the shinigami, but Ichigo's Zangetsu was different. For some reason it had stayed when he disappeared into the wind. Renji had once picked up his friend's blade and felt its power. Even without a master he knew that the sword was insanely powerful. Once a young shinigami had grabbed the sword and inadvertently killed nearly three dozen visitors when the boy threw a getsuga tensho by accident. Since that accident captain Urahara had put a kido barrier around them strong enough to repel anything weaker than a captain level shinigami. If an arrancar was to get a hold of the sword then the results would be disastrous. He had to stop that arrancar at all costs.

"I'm on my way!" shouted Renji as he flash stepped towards the shrine with all his speed.

* * *

"Who is there?" asked Rukia as she drew her sword. In ten years she had grown but was still a beautiful, slender woman. Her cheery attitude had disappeared though, in its place she carried the same pervasive depression that most shinigami had seemed to suffer from. She sighed to herself as she returned to the entrance of the memorial. Rukia had to guard it tonight; she felt that something big would be happening soon.

Since Ichigo had died Rukia had made it her job to protect his sword and mask. She owed her life to the orange haired shinigami, so in her mind it was the least she could do. His last words were burned into her mind, though she doubted they would ever be true. She couldn't dwell on the past tonight, though. She had been informed by Captain Urahara that there was an attack on the Seireitei and that she was to guard the memorial with her life. For some reason though, she could barely feel any reiatsu at all, as if something was drowning out her senses. It was a reminiscent feeling, the last time she could not feel any reiatsu was when she first met Ichigo.

Rukia was caught by surprise when she felt a blunt metal object collide her stomach as she was smashed through the door of the memorial, and several walls behind it before landing in a small pile of rubble. _That hurt_, rukia thought to herself as she quickly drew her zanpokuto and returned to her feet as she saw the moonlight illuminate the silhouette of her attacker. He was roughly ten feet tall, appeared to be well built, and had a flail in his left hand. Rukia couldn't see where his mask was but it didn't matter, she knew the reiatsu was that of an arrancar.

"Name yourself," she said as she readied her sword, preparing to strike.

"Why bother," said the arrancar as he approached the short shinigami. "You're going to be dead soon."

Rukia flash stepped behind the man and sliced into his back. The arrancar roared with pain as he turned around and smashed his flail into Rukia, sending her flying through another wall and into the courtyard of the memorial. She quickly returned to her feet and prepared to release her sword. She spun it counter-clockwise and started the release command.

"Dance, Sode no…"

Before Rukia could finish the intruder used sonido to move behind her and slammed his flail into her. Rukia felt her body travel face first through two walls before it cushioned itself in a surprisingly soft surface. The raven haired shinigami could barely register the impact when she realized what she had impacted on. Within a split second ten thousand volts of electricity coursed through her body as she fell backwards onto the ground. She had impacted the protective kido barrier that had been placed around the case that contained Ichigo's sword Zangetsu and his mask.

"well that saved me the trouble of asking politely" laughed the unnamed arrancar as Rukia got a good look at his mask, white bone fragments covered his mouth and formed what looked to be a bandana that covered his face.

Rukia tried to get up but her body simply would not respond to her. The electricity from the barrier had had a numbing effect on her body which prevented any sudden movements. She felt the man pick her up and throw her through another set of walls where she landed next to a tree just outside of the memorial. She lay prone on the ground as her vision grew blurry. Being thrown through that many walls and connecting with the kido barrier had had a brutal, if not crude, way of damaging her.

Suddenly she felt an immense reiatsu appear as she realized that the arrancar had broken the kido barrier and grabbed Ichigo's blade. She heard a booming laughter as she saw him walk through the holes in the walls that Rukia had made. The arrancar was approaching her with Ichigo's blade, yet she did not have the power to raise her own blade in defense.

"With this blade I am invincible, soul society shall fall!" he laughed as he raised the blade and prepared to strike Rukia, "and you shall die first."

Rukia closed her eyes in preparation for the sword of her friend to kill her, she would defend herself if she could but the raven haired shinigami was weakened far too much to put up a fight. Her thoughts raced as she felt Zangetsu's reiatsu flare up in preparation to strike. It was crazy that the masterless sword would obey anyone since Ichigo had died. Then her mind turned to the Orange haired substitute shinigami. She thought to herself that after ten long years, she would maybe see her best friend again in the land of, well, wherever the dead went when they died. She wanted to ask Ichigo many things, speak with him again, laugh with him again. Above all, though, Rukia just wanted to speak with him again. She whispered his name as the blade swung towards her body as she lay prone on the ground.

"Ichigo..."

* * *

Ichigo sat in his inner world with his inner hollow and Zangetsu. They had held arms for what seemed like a century. Eventually even Zangetsu had stopped counting the time. Suddenly the dust wave ended, leaving a serenely peaceful Karakura town that had been polished by the wind. Then they all heard Rukia's voice. She called Ichigo's name quietly, and had been the first voice outside of the hollow or Zangetsu that Ichigo had heard in a very long time.

"Ichigo..."

"**Well partner, your queen is calling you**," laughed the hollow as the dust settled. "**You had better get going.**"

"I intend to, Shirosaki. Now that my strength has returned I don't plan on letting her wait." said Ichigo as he released his hands with Zangetsu and his newly named hollow. Then he left his inner world, leaving Zangetsu and Shirosaki grinning in the background.


	3. Chapter 3 Kind of Cliché

**A/N: This chapter is 2,409 words without the author's note, which is a good thing considering that I ended up rewriting it about six times. This chapter and the next one really gave me difficulty. Sword combat is easy to right, whip combat is a completely different matter (I'm also woefully bad with fluff). Still though, its chapter three; If this is the worst chapter I'll be happy. ****Three chapters in three days was a little taxing, though, especially considering that I want to be two chapters ahead so that I can properly review, edit, filter, and rewrite them as I see fit. That means I'm probably going to give the next chapter a little time to ferment into perfection (no, that doesn't mean I'm abandoning it).**

**In other news, I had a minor villian planned out to be a snake that used a whip like weapon to fight renji sometime in the mid-future. Guess what I ended up nixing completely :P. I tried to insert a little humor near the end, and I hope it works out. Shirosaki balances the trio very well and provides a nice character foil to Ichigo. Finally, There were no reader questions so I can't answer anything. Special thanks to the ten reviews, 15 favorites, and 12 follows. You all make this story worth writing. **

**Thanks to bcsaturdai for catching the capitalization errors.**

Heres how speech text works:

"words" - normal talking

_words _- thoughts

**words **- Ichigo's hollow

**_words _**- Zangetsu

**Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (asides from maybe 1 or 2 OCs - but I digress); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Chapter three - Kind of Cliché

Rukia closed her eyes and waited for the blow to hit her, but it didn't. Instead of meeting death at the end of Ichigo's blade she heard metal meet metal and the arrancar screaming in surprise. Rukia opened her eyes to see what had happened. What had saved her from an untimely demise given to her by a relic of a friend?

Renji stood standing there as he blocked the blow from Zangetsu with his sealed zanpokuto in one hand. Moonlight radiated into the field as his white Captain's haori and hair fluttered in the gentle breeze. Rukia could not see his face, but if she could it would have radiated determination and anger. Renji had barely arrived at the memorial in time to block the blow that had meant to kill the raven haired shinigami. The captain had not been fast enough to stop the initial attack, but he was strong enough to end this fight and kill Rukia's attacker.

Renji counterattacked and slashed at the arrancar and the arrancar jumped back about a dozen yards, startled at this surprise visitor. The unidentified arrancar held Zangetsu with both hands as he attached his flail to the belt of his pants. The moonlight illuminated the scene as Renji spoke up with Zabimaru in a defensive stance.

"Renji, he took Zangetsu…" said Rukia as she propped herself up onto her knees using her sword as a prop. Her comment begged action, with four simple words she conveyed sadness and desire to protect the blade. Her eyes begged Renji to get Ichigo's sword back, but not because of the destructive power that it contained. She only wanted to keep it safe until Ichigo fulfilled his promise ten years ago. Renji understood this request and nodded his head.

"I'll get it back, no bastard but Strawberry can hold Zangetsu." said Renji without taking his eyes off his opponent. They stared each other down for a few seconds when Renji finally broke the silence.

"Name's Captain Renji Abarai, what's yours?" said the tall redhead as he stood firm in the moonlight as the wind rustled against his hair. _Talk about a cliché entrance_, he thought to himself as he waited for the intruder to respond.

"Sebastian Montalban, espada numero siete (seven)." Replied the thief as he gripped Zangetsu and charged Renji.

"Howl Zabimaru!" Renji shouted as he released his sword into its shikai state. In one fluid motion Zabimaru formed its familiar whip-like structure and blocked Zangetsu as the seventh espada brought the sword down. As the blades connected Renji extended the blade and whipped around Zangetsu where the edges sawed into Sebastian's chest, creating a deep saw-toothed gash. Sebastian jumped back in surprise and Renji pushed his advantage.

When the arrancar leapt back Renji lashed out and extended Zabimaru into the espada. At the last second Sebastian raised Zangetsu to block, shunting Zabimaru to the right where it continued to extend behind the arrancar. Then Renji pulled back and dragged Zabimaru into the arrancar's right shoulder cutting deeply as the blade returned to its original, six segmented form. Renji hadn't even moved from his spot yet he had the espada on the edge. The captain had not really been trying either, for this man to call himself the seventh espada it surely meant that the espada had lost a lot of power.

Sebastian raised Zangetsu and charged at Renji. As he did black waves of energy radiated off the back of the sword. The espada had somehow figured out how to channel his energy into the blade, either by accident or deliberately. Either way, Renji quickly moved up to intercept the blade as fast as possible and stop Zangetsu before it charged too much power. When Renji blocked he felt Zabimaru shudder under the weight of the impact, the espada had put a lot more force into this attack than he had in the first one. Renji extended his blade once more and slashed into Sebastian Montalban but he soon realized it was a mistake.

As Zabimaru extended it put less pressure on Zangetsu. Without the force of the unextended blade to stop it, Zangetsu pushed towards Renji unimpeded and Renji had to pull his body back to avoid being cut. The energy that Zangetsu had been building up was suddenly released in the form of a point blank Getsuga Tensho. Renji used his backward momentum to jump back as he felt the wave pass over him. Renji suddenly remembered the first time he had taken Ichigo's signature attack. Compared to the one that bore down on him the original had carried more pride, the energy inside this Getsuga Tensho felt sad and weak. As quickly as the energy wave had started it ended, passing over Renji harmlessly.

_I guess you really won't hurt a friend_, Renji thought to Zangetsu. Then he noticed his tip of his ponytail was on fire. Renji quickly put it out as he laughed to himself at the irony of his words compared to the situation. Then his smile dropped into a frown he saw the condition that Zangetsu was in. Rukia began to shout profanities at the captain.

"Watch what you're doing moron!" Rukia shouted as she watched the two combatants fight.

"Does it look like I'm not?" Renji shouted back to her as he eyed the blade in the espada's hand.

Zangetsu had been given a large crack that moved from the grip to about midway through the blade. Renji had tried not to harm the sword, but it was looking like the damage would be taking its toll. Rukia would kill him for cracking the blade. He had to stop the fight with the espada now before the sword became any more damaged, if Zangetsu broke Rukia would skin him alive. Suddenly the arrancar raised Zangetsu high and charged reiatsu from it and swung the blade down, sending a pulse of energy at Renji.

_Shit_, thought Renji as he flexed Zabimaru to block the attack. The first Getsuga Tensho had been very weak, but Renji did not want to take any chances. He didn't need to block, however, as the energy pulse died out before it hit them. The arrancar shouted and tried the attack again.

"Damn it all!" shouted Sebastian as he brought down Zangetsu again. The blade never made it half way through the swing. Pure white energy radiated from the crack in the blade as Zangetsu shattered into black dust and was carried away by the wind, disappearing completely in seconds. Zangetsu had been destroyed. Slightly fazed, the espada shouted profanities into the air, "What the hell is this crap?"

* * *

Renji and Rukia saw it, Zangetsu had been destroyed. The blade they were trying to recover had disappeared. One of the last links to their friend had been destroyed; now only Ichigo's mask remained. Hope sank in Renji's heart as the arrancar pulled out his flail and started swinging it above his head. Renji resolved to destroy the thief and now vandal before he could do anymore harm. Behind him he could hear Rukia begin to cry.

"That blade was shitty; the only thing it could break was that mask that was sitting next to it! There's no way my superiors actually wanted It." taunted Sebastian Montalban, the seventh espada. "I'll just use my resurrection and kill you all the old fashioned way."

_This damn hollow will pay_, he thought to himself as he pulled his hand back to out with Zabimaru. He would cut the freak up and desiccate the bastard. Death was too good for the arrancar; he would have to suffer for this great injustice he had caused. Renji would cut off his hands, then his feet, and work inward from there. The captain normally was not cruel enough to punish someone in a fight, but this situation called for such actions. That damned thief had destroyed the last remaining links to their long gone friend. Zabimaru extended greatly as Renji whipped his zanpokuto at the espada who was unaware of just how badly he had hurt them.

Renji didn't connect Zabimaru, though, as halfway through his swing a bolt of lightning arced from the sky and made contact with Zabimaru's tip before it chained of and connected and the chest of the arrancar. Renji felt the electricity move from the tip of the blade as it traveled into his hand, forcing him to pull his hand back stop his attack mid-swing. Thunder rolled and echoed in the background as Renji saw the shock on his opponent's face, and the oversized cleaver that was Zangetsu pierced through his chest.

"What in the nine hells is this?" screamed the arrancar as he dropped his flail. Slowly the zanpokuto cut its way out of the espada's chest as Montalban screamed in pain and shock, too stunned to move his own weapon in defense. Zangetsu realigned itself until the blade hovered in midair and pointed upwards with the cutting edge facing the arrancar, as if it was held steady by an invisible hand. Suddenly Zangetsu slashed downwards in a fluid motion, slicing the espada completely in two as though the man was butter and Zangetsu was a hot knife. Sebastian Montalban quietly fell in two parts as they faded into dust and disappeared before the two sides made contact with the ground. Zangetsu stopped a few inches above the ground and just hovered in spot, perfectly still. No one spoke as the wind carried the remains of the arrancar away.

* * *

Rukia couldn't understand the past few seconds. She had seen Zangetsu disappear from existence and yet it had stabbed into the arrancar's chest and even kill the man. Now it stood pointed down diagonally as if someone was carrying it. The arrancar died as the sword remained still. Seconds passed before Renji broke the silence.

"Zangetsu, what are you doing!" Renji shouted at the sword as he sealed and sheathed his own blade. "What is going on?"

Rukia just stood speechless as she saw the moon light up as bright as the sun, illuminating the clearing in a pure white light. It was like it was day time in the clearing outside of the trashed memorial as black dust began to filter in. Rukia recognized this black dust as it began to circle around the blade and obscured the blade. It had been present when Ichigo died ten years ago. She asked herself why it was returning when she felt Renji pick her up and set her on her feet.

Suddenly she felt a dark reiatsu pulse from the cyclone. It was dark, but comforting. She recognized it as Ichigo's reiatsu, but he was long dead. Yet the reiatsu was emanating from the cyclone, gushing out massive amounts of spiritual energy. It didn't hurt though, instead Rukia felt her energy return to her and saw a few cuts on Renji's body heal instantly. What was going on?

* * *

Ichigo released his grip on Zangetsu as he set it behind his back. He willed the dust away and it faded from existence. Then he realized his back was turned to the friends he had just saved, despite meaning to face them.

"**Smooth partner**," laughed Shirosaki.

* * *

When the dust cleared Rukia couldn't believe her own eyes. She had seen him die, fading away into the dust all those years ago. Yet he was standing there in front of them, back turned to them. The black robed orange haired shinigami with Zangetsu on his back. Surely it was impossible, she thought to herself as tears leaked from her eyes. Then he turned around and smiled, his long orange hair waving in the cool night breeze. Then the person turned around, and she saw his face, and there could be no mistake. It was Ichigo Kurosaki, back from the dead; just like he had promised ten years ago.

"Yo," Ichigo said as he waved to them.

"What the hell? We thought you died!" Rukia screamed as she leapt and kicked him in his face. Truthfully she half expected her foot to travel through him; it was almost too good to be true.

_So much for the fairy tale entrance_, Ichigo thought to himself as he stood perfectly still with Rukia's sandal lodged roughly two inches into his skull. He felt a vein pop in his forehead as he pulled her off of him and set the female shinigami on the ground. "Did you really have to kick me? I just spent an eternity in the most boring place in the world; a foot to the face really kills the mood."

"**_I heard that Ichigo…_**" said Zangetsu.

"Do you know how much we missed you?" asked Rukia as she latched onto Ichigo and hugged him with a death grip. Tears welled in her eyes as she found comfort in his kimono. "We thought you died."

"I may have left midget, but this time I'm here to stay." Ichigo sighed as he returned the hug. For once Rukia did not punch him or argue the remark.

"You better Strawberry," said the short shinigami as she fought back tears, "and if you tell anyone I'm crying I'll kill you."

Their moment was broken up when they hear a loud thump. They looked up and found that Renji had passed out from combined shock of seeing his friend again and the lightning bolt that had struck Zabimaru.


	4. Chapter 4  Raising the Stakes

**A/N: As of publishing this chapter is roughly 2,310 words, which seems to be around my average chapter size****. This chapter marks the end of the introduction arc and the beginning of the actions that will shake Soul Society to its core (man that is so cliché**)**. Unfortunately that also means that this and the next chapter are almost completely character and story development, but don't worry! I already have the chapter where *details deleted* happens, so expect an epic fight. Also new is the "next chapter preview" which is a short paragraph from the chapter that I'm currently editing.**

**Along those lines, I have a few names of weapons and attacks that I need translated into japanese. Unfortunately I cannot read or speak the language so if someone wants to shoot a review volunteering to translate them for me that would be amazing. It also means you get preview details about the story AND the story can come out faster. As of uploading this chapter and writing the A/N this story has 19 reviews and a very good amount of favorites and follows, which is very heartwarming and inspiring.**

**bcsaturdai: (in my story) Soul Society has laxed many of its originally strict regulations regarding people like hollows and ryoka as a result of the constant strife that has gripped the world in the past ten years. As a result many people like former exiles have been restored to their old positions. More answers to that in the next chapter. You will also see the a new villain(s) in this chapter, but they will be given greater detailing later. **

******Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (asides from maybe 1 or 2 OCs - but I digress); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Chapter four – raising the stakes

The three shinigami sat underneath a tree as the moon waned into the early morning sky. They had been there for at least an hour but, despite his protests, Renji and Rukia had firmly planted Ichigo beneath the tree and refused to let him move. Ichigo had seen the logic in their actions; his friends were still trying to convince themselves that he was real. They quietly spoke as the sun gradually made its way into the sky and lit up the clearing. It was a beautiful morning, asides from the destruction in the memorial it was picture perfect. Rukia felt as though the heavens themselves had opened up and in an act of pure benevolence returned Ichigo to them. The morning was just the second act.

Rukia was emotionally shot. Over the past ten years she had made herself strong for his sake, now that he was back she could finally lower her guard. After the fight, she had found herself refusing to be detached from Ichigo's hands. Ichigo held her in his protective hands as she sat in his lap. Rukia bared her heart before the substitute shinigami after he returned. It was rather out of character, but Ichigo really did not mind.

Renji on the other hand had acted like he won the lottery. After he regained consciousness Renji had insisted proving to himself that Ichigo was just a crazy hallucination. The result was two giant lumps on his head where Ichigo and Rukia had both hit him, hard. He had seen enough death to treasure any moments he had with a friend. The fact that it was Ichigo wasn't lost either, and not just on the basis of being his friend. Soul society needed strong arms in its endeavors to protect the world. This small fact could wait though, as Renji set it aside in favor of small talk with the substitute shinigami.

They had talked for what seemed like ages. Ichigo told them about what he had done for the past ten years. They had told him about the end of the winter war. Ichigo told them about how his powers returned and his complete mastery of his soul. They had filled him in on the fact that it had been ten years and the world had changed. They conveniently left out the fact that world war three had happened and that most of their friends were dead, well whatever could be deader than a spirit. Ichigo didn't need to know that information, though, not yet. Renji avoided talking about much of the world because it could wait. Ichigo had just returned to them, why make him suffer immediately?

The sun hung low in the sky when they felt the familiar reiatsu that told them that the friends were no longer alone. Three powerful energy signatures flash stepped in front of them, breaking the tranquility of the moment. Ichigo recognized them instantly; Kisuke Urahara, Shinji Hirako, and Byakuya Kuchiki stood in front of them with their captain's haoris waving in the wind. Rukia quickly scrambled off of her position on Ichigo's lap when she felt the death stare from her brother. Kisuke Urahara was the first person to break the silence.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, so nice of you to return to us," said Urahara as he pulled of his white and green striped hat. "I scarcely believe my own eyes."

"Hey Urahara," said Ichigo calmly as he continued sitting under the tree. "Long time no see."

"Indeed, it has been far too long," replied Shinji as he grinned from ear to ear. His smile masked his curiosity perfectly as he continued his sentence trying to goad an explanation from the substitute shinigami. "You took your time in returning."

"Explanations can wait," interrupted Byakuya as he closed his eyes, "There is a captains' meeting at four this afternoon, you will have your answers and we will listen to your story. Please attend."

Ichigo swallowed nervously as he stared at the captains. He had meant to ask why Urahara and Shinji were wearing captain's uniforms and why they were in Soul Society but Byakuya had cut him off before he could even start. He also felt a slight disgust coming from the head of the Kuchiki clan, as though he had broken some major law or tradition in the three hours he had been back in Soul Society. Ichigo racked his brain to figure out how he had insulted Byakuya when he realized the anger was not pointed at him but rather at the raven haired shinigami sitting next to him. Ichigo smiled when he saw Rukia avoiding eye contact with her brother. Ichigo contemplated this small fact when the captains turned around and prepared to leave.

"Attendance is mandatory…" said Urahara as he turned his head and shot Ichigo a grin. He put his trademark hat back on his head and laughed. "And for what it's worth, welcome back."

"Also, Ichigo Kurosaki," said Byakuya Kuchiki, not bothering to turn around, "if you ever hurt Rukia I'll gouge out your eyes, tear off your limbs, and then kill you… slowly."

Crickets chirped in the morning breeze as the captains flash stepped away, leaving a bewildered Ichigo staring blankly at the spots where they had just been. He silently thought to himself, _What was this about dismemberment and a slow painful death?_

* * *

The trio that sat beneath the tree paused in stunned silence as the captains flash stepped out of the area, leaving the three shinigami behind. The friends sat in silence before Ichigo slowly stood up, walked a few feet, and then turned to face Rukia and Renji.

"What was that last line about?" asked Ichigo with a shocked and confused look on his face. Rukia avoided locking eyes as she stared off into a corner with a timid smile on her face. Renji saw this and spoke up.

"Rukia loves you." said Renji as he quickly jumped up and away from the arm that shocked and appalled Rukia had swung at him. Ichigo's jaw dropped as he watched the two playfully fight and yell at each other, well Renji was being playful; Rukia looked like she would kill the pineapple where he stood if he gave her the chance. He was confused, but Renji's explanation would explain the past actions of Rukia and Byakuya. Rukia scored blow to Renji's temple as the captain shouted and Shirosaki spoke up inside of Ichigo's inner world.

"**He's speaking the truth. You know Rukia totally has the hots for you.**" laughed Shirosaki.

"Maybe, I don't want to betray her friendship though." said Ichigo quietly as he watched Renji throw Rukia about twenty feet in the air.

"**Partner, don't be a coward, she just won't admit it. I'd be fucking her brains out right now.**" said Shirosaki as he continued to laugh. Ichigo swore that the hollow was enjoying the moment. Shirosaki may give inappropriate advice, but it really did not sound half bad to the orange haired shinigami.

"_**I hate to interrupt gentlemen,**_" said Zangetsu as he interrupted the conversation, "_**but you may want to catch her.**_"

Startled, Ichigo turned his attention to Rukia, who was falling from the air. Renji had stepped back to allow Ichigo to intervene. Rukia was about seven feet from the ground when Ichigo used shunpo to catch her. She landed gracefully in Ichigo's outstretch arms and her hands went around his neck. Then Rukia's eyes shot daggers at Renji as she shouted at him.

"What was that for Renji?" she shouted while holding onto Ichigo's well built frame.

"I'm just playing matchmaker. Besides, you never denied it." said Renji calmly as he turned around. He knew Rukia would hesitate when it came to Ichigo; she always did. If Renji hadn't pushed her he knew that she would never move forward. The captain had no regrets though; he was never a person to stand in the way of love. His stomach growled and he decided to change the subject before he ended up with a sword in his back. "Hey guys, I'm actually hungry right now. I know a western style restaurant that's pretty good. How about we hit it up?"

Ichigo silently stared at Rukia as she stared at Renji's back without saying anything. Quietly he contemplated the situation when he realized exactly how long it had been since he had actually eaten anything. When he had been trapped in his inner world with Zangetsu and Shirosaki he had never actually been hungry, just bored. Ichigo responded with an agreement and told Renji to lead the way. He set Rukia down and they walked with the captain. As they walked he quietly asked Rukia a question below his breath.

"Did Renji speak the truth? Do you really love me midget?" he asked Rukia, saying it quietly enough so that Renji would not hear. Ichigo did not know what to expect.

"Maybe." said Rukia sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. "And don't call me midget."

The shinigami walked to the restaurant Renji had been talking about. All the while Rukia had held Ichigo's hand. Ichigo had been on top of the world that morning. Nothing could bring him down. Renji smiled the whole way, he knew it had hurt him a little to push Rukia along but it was worth it. The pain was nothing when he compared it to the joy he had brought Rukia.

"**SCORE!**" shouted shirosaki inside of Ichigo's inner world.

* * *

Hueco Mundo:

Las Noches had been abandoned after the winter war and sat in neglect for years as world war three raged on earth. After the third world war, however, it had gained new occupants. Inside the meeting room four people watched a large projection screen as it displayed a recent fight. The audience watched as Sebastian Montalban was slashed in two pieces. Dust gathered on the screen as Ichigo Kurosaki came into view. Then the screen went black. Silence filled the room before the arrancar spoke to each other, ignoring the fact that they were being watched.

"The espada are weak, the queen should have sent one of us to get that sword."

"She had hoped that after years of hiding Zangetsu, they had finally lowered their guard. Unfortunately she was wrong."

"Why did she want that sword anyways? You saw how easy it broke."

"The queen said it belonged to an important person to her."

"What about that guy though; you saw his appearance. Who is he?"

"That man is Ichigo Kurosaki…"

The last voice had not been from the four arrancar, instead it had come from a throne resting high above them. Light from the windows illuminated the base of the chair, but it died out before it could even reach the persons feet. The four figures stood up from their chairs and bowed to the throne.

"What are your orders, great lord of Hueco Mundo?" asked one of the figures as he continued to bow.

"Ichigo Kurosaki will return to Karakura town on earth. It is his home." said the figure in a calm and calculating tone. "When he does, I want you all to capture him and bring him before me. Afterwards we raise the stakes with Soul Society."

"Yes my angel of despair. We serve you faithfully." said the figure farthest from the right as she pulled up from her bow. The other men followed suit and stood at attention. They waited permission to retreat from the room as the silence wracked their nerves. The queen usually did not speak or give commands. She just wanted them to carry out an eternal war against Soul Society.

"I want Ichigo alive…" said the queen as the four people stood perfectly still. "Bring him back alive or don't bother coming back at all. Los Jinetes Del Apocalipis are dismissed."

The arrancars bowed before filing out of the room. The horsemen of the apocalypse had their orders. They would carry them out to the bitter end. They were born of malice and spite from the war, each one of them representing a different aspect of the apocalypse depicted in the bible. Combined they could rend the earth and the heavens of all life. They answered no one but the queen, and they followed her orders to the death. Soul Society may have been fighting for years, but the real battle had just yet to begin.

* * *

When she was alone, the queen wailed in despair that filled the room. Soul Society had persecuted and forsaken her during the third world war. They had left her to die alone, but she had survived after being spirited away to Hueco Mundo. She had grown strong as she tried to imitate Ichigo's resolve, but she never could be quite like him. Her very essence filled with a desire for revenge at the wrong Soul Society had given to her. They had taken him away from her, abandoned her friends, and left her to die. Even in death Soul Society still denied her the right to possess what rightfully belonged to her. Tears freely flowed from her eyes as the queen said his name.

"Ichigo… Come back to me…"

* * *

Preview:

_Ichigo had once been on top of the world, now he was just bored out of his mind. Renji had neglected to mention that the meeting still had three hours before it started. Renji had quickly fallen asleep sitting at the giant meeting table that spanned almost the entire room. Ichigo had instead opted to count the dots in the ceiling; at the moment he was up to five thousand and sixteen, and still less then a quarter of the way finished._


	5. Chapter 5  Nobody likes Meetings

**A/N: 3,375 words; which makes it the longest chapter yet. Unfortunately that also made it very hard for me to clean up and rewrite. Sorry about the delay though, school work caught up and I had to crank out a 2k word story for the school newspaper (no I will not upload it). This part may drag a little bit, but I think it's necessary for the plot. Also, I'm still looking for someone that knows how to translate a little with swords and attacks and whatnot, worst case scenario I make an educated guess with an online dictionary and say its professional (please don't kill me). Also, this is an IchiRuki fic so even if the romance gets put on the back burners it's still there.**

**On the queen, since that was the majority of the reviews... It may be Orihime, it could be Nel, it could be Tatsuki/Karin/A crossdressing Isshin or any female that has an important role in Ichigo's life. There was a 'small' red herring in the last chapter (or was there?) to help conceal her identity. Also I think that if I'm not careful with it I'm going to get pitchforks in my back when the revelation chapter comes out. And I would prefer not to die. Also, a minor 'OC' is introduced into the story as a filler captain.**

**As for Ichigo's mind; I planned on building him a little in the next few chapters but here's a little bit about him. 'Ten Years' signifies significantly more than just the time. It represents the change that people go through and how the world can never be the same place twice. Ichigo hasn't fully realized this yet, but he truthfully can't just return to his friends and family like it was the very next day. He will undergo substantial development in later chapters. I hope, Tite Kubo may send a Cease and desist order which is why this next part gets included.**

******Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (I guess not even the OCs *sobs*); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Ichigo felt like he was on top of the world. He had just returned to soul society after spending an eternity in his own spirit world. He had heard that the world was suffering but it didn't register in his head how badly. Quite frankly, simply did not care. Ichigo was back in soul society and Rukia hadn't denied an attraction either. Nothing could bring him down, not even the meeting he was being forced to attend. After the meeting he promised himself that afterwards he would see his family and friends back in Karakura town. His friends would be amazing to see him again and Ichigo couldn't wait.

The sun glowed radiantly as Renji and Ichigo walked together towards the first division headquarters. They could have easily used shunpo to travel there but Ichigo had asked to take the long way and soak in the world - he had seen nothing but grey dust and the spirits inside his soul for a really, really, long time. It was all slightly surreal to him as the sun lit up the busy street that they walked down.

"So you're the captain of the seventh division now?" asked Ichigo as he carried a large grin instead of his trademark scowl.

"Yes sir. A lot has changed in the ten years since you've been gone man. I'm still not exactly sure that I didn't just take a fatal wound and this is some strange hallucination of my dying mind." laughed Renji as they neared the first division barracks.

"That's pretty dark pineapple," said Ichigo with a slightly concerned look, it seemed pretty out of character for Renji to make casual jokes about death. Ichigo thought to himself as he spoke with Renji, _What could have possibly made him say that?_

"As I said strawberry, a lot has changed." replied Renji as they reached the gate of their destination, "the world isn't all rainbows and puppy dogs anymore strawberry."

Ichigo paused to look up at the magnificent structure. Around the Seireitei he could feel the neglect radiate from the buildings. The first division barracks looked like they had just been built by a man rich beyond his wildest dreams. He stared at the building as he noted the architecture, white marble on top of oak wood and leafed in gold; three stories tall and as wide as his eyes could see. Then he looked down and saw that a gate guard left his post and walked towards the two shinigami.

"Halt," commanded the man as he held up a hand to stop them, "I recognize you captain Abarai, but who is your guest?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Renji said quietly. "We're here for the captains' meeting today."

"Did you say Ichigo Kurosaki? The legend of the winter war?" the guard shouted in surprise. Immediately every shinigami within earshot turned to look at the excited guard and the people that he had stopped. Ichigo felt hundreds of eyes staring him down and it made him uncomfortable. Renji noticed this small fact and spoke to the guard.

"Yes I did, please let us pass now," replied Renji, clearly irritated that at the loud mouth that the man had. Then he turned around and addressed the crowd, "Nothing to see here people, go away."

"YES SIR RIGHT AWAY SIR!" shouted the gate guard.

The man quickly ran back to his post and pulled a lever. Gears groaned as the large door slowly raised just enough to allow the pair entrance before stopping. Then he saluted Ichigo as they walked through into the building. When they were out of earshot Ichigo turned to Renji with a puzzled look.

"What was that about?"

Renji laughed loudly as he opened the door to the meeting room. "You sir, are the closest thing to a celebrity soul society has had in a long time."

* * *

Ichigo had once been on top of the world, now he was just bored out of his mind. Renji had neglected to mention that the meeting still had three hours before it started. Renji had quickly fallen asleep sitting at the giant meeting table that spanned almost the entire room. Ichigo had instead opted to count the dots in the ceiling; at the moment he was up to five thousand and sixteen, and still less than a quarter of the way finished. Suddenly the door opened and Ichigo stopped counting to instead address their visitor, the white haired commander himself.

"Hey Toshiro! Man, you've really grown since I've been gone" Ichigo said lazily as he waved to the teenage looking shinigami who set his zanpokuto down in a rack next to the entrance where it rested with Ichigo and Renji's blades. Ichigo had failed to address the commander again, and he immediately felt Hitsugaya's glare before correcting himself. "Sorry, I meant Captain Hitsugaya. I know you don't like being addressed incorrectly"

"Its commander Hitsugaya to you! If you're going to correct yourself get it right!" said Toshiro angrily as he set some papers next to his seat at the head of the table.

"Commander you say? Congratulations, but what happened to old man Yamamoto?" asked Ichigo, confused at Hitsugaya's outburst.

"Ichigo Kurosaki…" explained commander Hitsugaya as his tone lowered from to a more comforting level. "Five years ago Commander Yamamoto sacrificed himself to cleanse the world of nuclear radiation."

"That's a noble cause," said Ichigo, who stared at the young commander. The old man had died. Neither Renji nor Rukia had told him. He quietly thought to himself as he sat in his chair. _What could have happened to the old man? And if he died, what else changed?_

* * *

"Was there another Chernobyl or something?" asked Ichigo as he attempted to break the awkward silence that had followed his last comment. Toshiro then realized that no one had bothered telling the substitute shinigami the true history of the past ten years

"No Ichigo, a year after you supposedly died World War Three happened," the commander answered with a deadpan look on his face as he flipped around some papers and tossed them in front of the many seats.

"WHAT?"

* * *

It took Hitsugaya an hour to finish explaining the history of what Ichigo had missed in the past ten years as Ichigo sat shell-shocked. He couldn't believe that mankind had nearly wiped itself out. Moreover he couldn't believe that soul society had actually been warring for the past five years against countless armies of hollows. Renji had told him that it was hell on earth, but Ichigo had assumed that his friend had just been exaggerating. It was like he had been dropped off in some crazy alternate world where a mad man was creating a terrible story to make him suffer.

"So what are you going to do after this Kurosaki?" inquired commander Hitsugaya as he finished explaining the world to Ichigo. "There would be plenty of room for you here in Soul Society. Nearly all of the Seireitei worships you and there's an open captain's position if you want it."

"I don't know anymore," said Ichigo as he donned his trademark scowl. Ichigo was deep in thought; his entire world had been turned upside down in the last hour. "I'd like to visit Karakura town and see my friends again before I make a decision. I'm a little uncomfortable outside of being called 'that damn substitute shinigami'."

"Kurosaki," said Toshiro, "I'm sorry but..."

Commander Hitsugaya couldn't finish his sentence as the door opened mid-phrase and someone rushed in, knocking Ichigo to the ground in a quick tackle. When Ichigo realized that he was staring at the ceiling on his back he looked to find his attacker. To his surprise it was a black cat, sitting on his chest.

"Ichigo!" said the cat excitedly, "Kisuke really wasn't lying when he said you returned."

"Nice to see you too, Yoruichi." laughed Ichigo as he picked her up off his chest and sat up. Black smoke came from nowhere as he felt the cat change shape in his hands. Instinctively he closed his eyes and locked them as quickly as possible. Seconds later he felt a soft caress on his face as Yoruichi sat in his lap.

_At least some things never change_, he thought to himself as his sat up stiff as a board. Yoruichi refused move from his lap as he clenched his eyes shut. _Maybe this isn't so bad after all_.

"Captain Shihoin! For the love of all that is good and holy..." screamed Hitsugaya, "put some clothes on and stop doing that!"

"Fine," said Yoruichi glumly as she let got out of Ichigo's lap, "you're such a killjoy though."

The screaming had woken Renji up, who had jumped to attention with a solute. A small amount of drool left his mouth as he realized it was just Yoruichi up to her normal antics.

"You didn't have to wake me up guys," laughed Renji as he looked at the clock, "I still have thirty minutes before the meeting begins."

"You really need to stop using these things as an excuse to take a nap," laughed Yoruichi, "by the way Ichigo, you can open your eyes now."

Slowly and cautiously Ichigo opened his eyes to find a fully clothed Yoruichi sitting in a chair next to the commander. He was about to ask how she had gotten clothed so quickly when the door slid open again and a large group of people walked in.

* * *

"Sorry about that commander," laughed Shunsui Kyoraku as the rest of the crowd filtered into the room. "Lunch ran really late."

"Its four in the afternoon," said Hitsugaya as he sat in his chair at the head of the table. "how long could it possibly take for lunch?"

Jushiro Ukitake sat down and laughed as Shunsui pulled out a flask of alcohol from under his pink robe. Shunsui drank deeply as Jushiro answered for him. "Lunch lasts until he can't see straight."

The rest of the captains had finished sitting down by the time Shunsui was finished with his alcohol. Ichigo sat in his chair as he looked the people over. The Gotei 13 had changed in the past ten years; that much was obvious when he stared down the captains. He recognized some of them as long standing captains like Kenpachi, Byakuya, Shunsui, Unahona, hitsugaya, and Ukitake. There were originally thirteen captains, but after ten years only six of the original captains that Ichigo knew of. He knew of the traitors and how they died, but he hadn't expected to see that over half the original captains had disappeared.

In their places were familiar faces that he hadn't expected to see wearing the captain's robes again. Shinji, Urahara, Kensei, and Yoruichi chatted to themselves as they waited for the meeting to start. Ichigo made a mental note to ask them about it later. Renji had been promoted, so that made up 11 total captains. The other captain was a new face to him.

Ichigo stared at the captain as the man looked him down. The captain wore a suit of silver armor beneath his robes. Short blond hair waved freely from his head even though there was no wind. He carried numerous cuts on his face, but had a massive scar that reached from the bottom of his right cheek all the way to the top of his forehead. Despite the scar though, both of his sapphire blue eyes stared Ichigo down. This man obviously wasn't Asian, instead if Ichigo were to hazard a guess based on the hair and armor he would assume the man hailed from central Europe.

"I call this meeting to order," said Hitsugaya as he sat down at the head of the table. He rattled of the names of the captains by division as they called out their presence. Shihoin, Schtauffen, Unahona, Hirako, Kuchiki, Abarai, Kyoraku, Muguruma, Phillips (who had died a month ago), Zaraki, Urahara, Ukitake.

Ichigo sat quietly at the other end of the table as the captains went through standard business. Six shinigami died in the attack last night, totaling fourteen casualties that week and three hundred and two for the year. New recruits were filing in left and right from the expanded shinigami academy, and were placed in appropriate divisions. Captaincy trials were looking for a good fit for the tenth division. Research and development needed more money for research on anti-hollow tools. Some human called Zefram Cochrane had restarted earth's space program. Ichigo sat silently for about thirty minutes before his face wandered up to the ceiling again, he didn't want to think about the war and counting the dots seemed like the next best thing.

_Five thousand seventeen, five thousand eighteen_, he thought to himself as he toned out the conversation. His father had once made Ichigo watch paint dry, and it was more interesting than this bureaucracy.

"_**There's twenty two thousand and six Ichigo,**_" said Zangetsu in Ichigo's inner world, "_**I count faster than you.**_"

* * *

"Kurosaki..."

"Kurosaki..."

"KUROSAKI PAY ATTENTION!"

Ichigo was cruelly dragged out of his counting when a rather large amount of ice water collided with his face. The captains erupted in laughter as Ichigo snapped to attention and stared at the commander who was shooting him a death glare and holding a large bucket in his hands. Captain Ukitake passed the orange haired shinigami a small towel for Ichigo to wipe off the icy cold water. Ichigo politely refrained from shouting a wide variety of obscenities at Toshiro Histugaya, but he wanted to.

"As I was saying Ichigo Kurosaki," said Hitsugaya in an annoyed tone, "the captains are glad to see that you are still alive, but would you please explain how you returned to us?"

"Well," said Ichigo as he dried himself off, "after I defeated Aizen I burned out my spiritual powers. I spent too long in my spirit form and ended up getting pulled into my spirit world by my Zangetsu and Shirosaki."

"Who's Shirosaki?" asked captain Zaraki as he stared at Ichigo. He would be brawling with the substitute shinigami soon.

"My inner hollow," said Ichigo. A couple of captains gasped in shock but most of them just rolled their eyes. Nothing was a surprise with Ichigo anymore. "Anyways, they wanted to spend the end together but I swore to them that it wouldn't actually be the end. A giant wave of dust was slowly passing through my inner world and we all figured it was my body collapsing. We just sat down together and took it like men. An eternity of boredom later and I'm here."

"_**I wouldn't call it **__**boring Ichig**_**_o_,**" said Zangetsu.

"**Speak for yourself Zangetsu; half way through I felt like killing Ichigo just to see what would happen.**" replied Shirosaki.

"Be quite guys," said Ichigo as he silenced the spirits in his mind.

"Who are you talking to?" asked captain Unahona.

"Oh, my inner hollow and sword." said Ichigo. "Anyways, I heard of the history of the war, but that doesn't explain why some of you guys are wearing white again, Urahara." Ichigo added emphasis on the captain's name.

"Well, my dear boy," laughed Urahara and he raised his hands in a shrug, "let's just say that I can't return to Karakura town anymore. Soul society has laxed the regulations and they need all the captain level shinigami they can get. I say let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet."

"The visoreds initially didn't join the shinigami. We held out on earth for a few years as the war raged. That's all I want to say," said Shinji as he continued to stare at the open window on the far side of the room.

Ichigo remained silent as he contemplated the words that his friends had just said. Soul society had changed in the past ten years. It was painted in death and stubble, but if they had grown to be more accepting then maybe it wasn't so bad. His mind turned to thoughts of his sisters Yuzu and Karin and he hoped they were doing fine. Ichigo was roused from his thoughts when Kenpachi spoke up.

"Hey boy," said Kenpachi as he grinned from ear to ear, "what are you going to do now that you're back? I've been looking for a challenge if you wanna go at it."

"Well first I'd like to return to Karakura town and visit my family and friend. I'm sure they'll be ecstatic to see me again." said Ichigo, trailing off. Then he noticed all of the captains had stopped doing anything else and just stared at him without a smile. "What guys?"

"Ichigo," said Kisuke Urahara softly. He paused for a moment without making eye contact with the young shinigami. Urahara bit his lip, swallowed, and finished his sentence. The next line crushed Ichigo's soul like a black hole obliterated light.

"Karakura town was destroyed in the war..."

* * *

Deep in Las Noches:

Slowly he regained consciousness. He did not know the exact amount of time he had been there, but it had been a long time. Many years ago they had ventured into Hueco Mundo in search of a friend, and found her. He had never expected it to end like this though. His friends were dead, brutally killed long ago by the hand of the person they were searching for. He remembered their faces stuck with horror as they died, and he would have wept if he could. He had spent all his tears many years ago.

He hated the cell that he was in. Light filtered in from the only window as he stared at the chains that bound his legs to the floor. Just outside of the cell was the weapon that would free him, conveniently left just outside of his reach. Five years ago he would have been shocked to learn of the cruelty that his captor had in her heart. Now he expected it as he heard the echo of footsteps in the corridor. Then the cell door opened and the queen walked in.

"You're awake." She said with a smile.

"You're a monster." He quickly replied with hate on his tongue.

"Remember when we met five years ago?" she asked the man. "You said it yourself. Ichigo is dead."

"Are you finally admitting the truth?" he asked her, "How many people had to die before you finally accept it? How many people… his friends… have you killed in your heartless obsession? You don't deserve to be called Ichigo's…"

His last lines were cut off when he felt a hand rip into his chest. He screamed in pain as the queen tore out his heart in a shower of blood and gore. Immediately he collapsed to the floor as he felt his energy drain from his body. Blood pooled around him as the queen spoke to him in his moment of death.

"Who's heartless now?" the queen taunted as she held the man's heart in her hand, "Ichigo did return, and he will soon be here. You gave up on him; I never gave up on him. He will come save me, and then I can have my revenge on Soul Society for all that they have done to me. There's no need for you anymore… quincy."

Ishida's vision blurred as he heard the footsteps of the queen leave the room. Then he felt something land on his chest, his vision grew black as he recognized it as his quincy bangle. He didn't need it though. Ishida would be departing for Soul Society soon, that much was certain. Even if he could fix the damage, there was no way could survive without a heart. Secretly he was glad to be passing on. It meant that he would be rejoining his friends that had crossed over before him. Uryu no longer held the grudge against Soul Society that he once carried, not after so much had happened. His friends were waiting for him and he wouldn't be keeping them any longer. As his soul left his body Ishida quietly spoke before departing the prison for the final time.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry we couldn't save her. Forgive me… my friend."

* * *

Preview:

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Son, brother, loyal friend, savior of the world. May we never forget his sacrifices. RIP,"


	6. Chapter 6  Edge of the World

**A/N: This chapter is 3,136 words long (excluding the A/N). This and the next chapter are extremely important to the plot as it marks the *spoilers deleted*. At this point I've done my best in guestimating some japanese names and other stuffs. If I'm wrong with anything or have made a glaring error please shoot a review and correct me. Currently I'm stuck drafting a very angsty and plot heavy chapter 9 and I'm refining chapter 7 while chapter 8 simmers. Also, I have writers block on the A/N, sorry.**

**Just a heads up, but if you haven't already guessed, the queen is mildly ooc. Ten Years of hell can really do that to a person. Please don't pitchfork me when I unveil the queen... NEXT CHAPTER... **

**bcsaturdai: I don't know HOW you do that, but every time you ask a question I've already written out the answer in the story. Thats Creepy! **

**********Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (I guess not even the OCs *sobs*); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Chapter six - edge of the world

Ichigo stared at the world from the porch of the Urahara shop. He felt his heart sink as his legs lost strength. He silently grabbed onto one of the pillars at the entrance to steady himself. The winter breeze pushed dead leaves around in the air as the downpour in Ichigo's heart rained a hurricane on its residents. He had tried to prepare his resolve when he had heard from Urahara about the devastation of Karakura town, but nothing could have prepared him for when he saw the ruins of the place he once called home.

* * *

15 minutes ago:

Ichigo stepped down from the senkaimon that had taken him from soul society to the Urahara shop in the ruins of Karakura town. Next to him Rukia and captain Schtauffen descended as well. There was a new law that had been passed to curtail shinigami deaths; no traveling in groups less than three. He had asked Rukia to come with him and unsurprisingly she had agreed. He was surprised though when captain Schtauffen had volunteered. Still, Ichigo wasn't the kind of person to turn down a volunteer so the trio had departed for Urahara's shop the morning after the meeting.

Upon landing he found himself in the basement where he had gained his soul reaper powers long ago. He had half expected the place to have been burned to the ground, but it looked completely fine. He looked around in a slight wonder as the owner walked down the massive staircase. Urahara wore the green and white striped hat that Ichigo had become so familiar with. Urahara's face was partially obscured with a paper fan as he waved to Ichigo.

"I thought you said Karakura town was destroyed," shouted Ichigo as he walked towards the entrance to the training grounds.

"It was Ichigo," replied Kisuke Urahara, "but during the war I laced my shop with kido strong enough to withstand level 99 hado. Mere nuclear weapons have no effect on the barrier. Besides, I had to keep this place in excellent condition or your father would kill me."

"What do you mean, Urahara?" asked Ichigo as he climbed the staircase towards the entrance.

"Your father asked me to take care of one very important person after the town was destroyed." Urahara said with a smile. The shinigami reached the top of the staircase and waited for Urahara to open the door.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Ichigo as he thought about his sisters and his friends. _Gods, I hope they're okay._

Urahara didn't answer, instead he swung the door open wide and pushed Ichigo in. Ichigo landed face first in a small hallway that connected to the rest of the store. As Ichigo looked up he saw pictures on the wall and old relics from his house. He saw Isshin's poster of Misaki and a family portrait that they had taken just before Ichigo had left for Hueco Mundo ten years ago. Nostalgia filled his mind as Rukia and captain Schtauffen entered the room behind him. Then he saw a table that a very surprised girl was sitting at.

"Ichi-nii!" screamed Yuzu as she jumped from the table and ran to her brother. Ichigo caught her in a caring embrace as tears fell from the two siblings. Ichigo was overcome by joy as he got a good look at his little sister.

Yuzu couldn't be called little anymore. In ten years she had grown into a beautiful young lady. Her soft brown hair remained cut the same way that Ichigo remembered from ten years ago. A faded red hairclip tied back the left side of her hair while the right side partially covered her face. She had grown a little too; she was taller than Rukia by a few centimeters. Time had turned her from the caring little sister to the caring not so little sister that Ichigo would trade the world to protect.

"Yuzu," said Ichigo as the tears rolled down his eyes. When Urahara said that the town was destroyed he had feared that the worst had happened to his family. His worried heart relaxed as Ichigo took a deep look at his sister. "I'm so glad you're safe Yuzu."

"I was just outside of Urahara's shop when the bombs went off Ichi-nii. When I got caught in the explosion Urahara protected me."

"Wait… what?" said Ichigo in a confused tone as he pulled away from his sister. He stared at her clothing and the sword by her side as he slowly understood the situation. Still, it didn't matter to him what condition his sister was in. Ichigo loved her all the same. "I'm just overjoyed that you're all right Yuzu. Do you know what happened to everyone else?"

"Ichi-nii," said Yuzu as she moved to hug him again, "Chad and Ishida were out of town with dad searching for you when the bomb hit, but Orihime and Karin and everyone else was caught in the explosion. I've been alone with Urahara for the past five years…"

"What do you mean alone?" asked Ichigo with a confused look on his face.

This time it was Rukia who spoke up. "Chad and Ishida spent every day looking for Karin and Orihime. One day they disappeared and never returned. Shortly afterwards your father left Yuzu with Urahara and went to search for them. No one ever saw him again."

Ichigo remained silent as he thought of his friends and family - Chad, Ishida, Orihime, Karin, and his dad. Rain fell in his soul as he thought about just how much each and every one of them meant to him. Losing them was the equivalent of cutting off an arm or a leg. _I hope they're all right._

"We put up a few tombstones for you all, would you like to visit them?" asked Urahara.

"Yes," said Ichigo as he regained composure, "please take me there."

* * *

Currently:

"Ichigo, you haven't even set foot off the porch," said Rukia as she took his hand, "are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes," said Ichigo as he calmed the storms in his inner soul. "I must do this."

"Captain Schtauffen and I will be a short distance away." informed captain Urahara as he tossed Rukia a small charm, "If you run into anything you can't handle we'll be there in a heartbeat. The memorial is where your mother is buried."

Ichigo and Rukia walked down the ruins of the town. Six years ago nuclear weapons had wiped away all life in the town except for a handful of lucky people that had gathered in the Urahara shop. Trees grew out of the cratered sidewalks and streets as they made their way towards the graveyard. Nostalgia filled Ichigo's mind as he remembered the people that had once worked in the shops that had once existed in the ghost of a town that Karakura town had become. They had walked to the entrance of the graveyard in silence when Ichigo broke the silence.

"You knew all of this, right Rukia?" he asked as he held his hands in his pocket.

"Yes, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Ichigo."

"Don't worry about it midget." said Ichigo in his trademark scowl, "I'm sure you had your reasons."

Immediately Rukia swiveled on her right leg and kicked the back of Ichigo's kneecap. Ichigo winced in pain as he grabbed his knee and hopped on his other leg. Rukia had, quite literally, struck a nerve.

"What the hell was that for midget?" he shouted as Rukia moved to kick him again.

"For calling me a midget and wallowing in your sorrow!" she shouted as her leg moved towards Ichigo's other foot. He jumped the kick as punched Rukia on the top of her head. "I care about you enough to pull you out of your pains when you need help."

"All right, all right," Ichigo said in resignation as he sighed. He cut himself off before he could finish the sentence, _you mean alot to me too__._

"That's ok, whenever you feel sorry for yourself just think of me beating it out of you," said Rukia in a smile. They stopped in front of a worn down gate that had partially collapsed.

"We're here."

* * *

Ichigo stared at the tombstones that lined the overgrown graveyard. A decade of disregard had rendered all but a few tombstones completely unreadable. Tall trees had grown from the neglect and complete abandonment. Slowly nature was reclaiming the town, and it had been hard at work in the graveyard.

They walked in the graveyard until they came to a small clearing that had obviously been maintained. The grass was cut, and the trees had been restrained from entering the site. He saw his mother's grave where it had always been, and next to it rested Isshin's grave. He stared at the two gravestones as they sat next to each other for a while before he turned his attention to the stone next to it. Slowly he read it out loud.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Son, brother, loyal friend, savior of the world. May we never forget his sacrifices. RIP,"

"Touching," said Rukia as she kneeled next to the stone, examining It. "There are even little pictures drawn on the stone. I see your sword, your mask, Kon, Orihime's hair clips, Chad's guitar, and Ishida's Quincy cross."

"It seems a little surreal," said Ichigo as he looked at the next tombstone. "Karin Kurosaki, taken from the world before ..."

* * *

Stone flew everywhere as the tombstone exploded mid-sentence. Ichigo jumped back and pulled Rukia with his left hand. In his right hand he pulled Zangetsu off his back and held it angled downwards in a defensive stance. The debris landed as Ichigo looked at his attacker and the defiled of his sister's grave.

"The name's Veldrane." said the man as he stood still holding his sword upright behind his back. Messy black hair formed a mullet as he smiled at Ichigo. He had one eye, the other being covered with the remains of his hollow mask which formed an eye patch. He wore a plain black shirt under a brown vest with wrinkled pants held up by a belt with a dozen compartments.

"I am the horseman war, un Jinete del Apocolypsis."

"Substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki." said Ichigo as he stared down his opponent. Rukia attempted to draw her zanpokuto but Ichigo stopped her, "this fight is mine."

"Good Ichigo Kurosaki, good." said Veldrane as he moved his sword from behind his back to in front of his face where Ichigo got a good look at it. It was a medieval style longsword with two edges connected with a cross shaped handguard. A diamond studded counterbalance ended the grip roughly two hand lengths down from the guard. "The jinetes were ordered to bring you to the queen alive young man. I went ahead to have some fun, try to make it worth my time."

"That's my line bastard," said Ichigo as he attached his hands to Zangetsu. The white ribbon attached to Zangetsu flew in the wind as the two stared each other down. Rukia felt the reiatsu as she backed away to give Ichigo room to fight, then she quietly clicked the distress beacon Urahara had given her and waited. "You'll pay for defiling Karin's grave."

"Kill me within ten minutes and you can escape, otherwise you're coming with us whether you like it or not."

"I will not let you harm Rukia."

"I give you a gentleman's promise that no harm will befall her. Now we dance!"

* * *

They charged each other in the graveyard. Veldrane swung his longsword vertically as Ichigo slashed with Zangetsu. The two swords met as the fighters immediately counterattacked and blocked relentlessly. In the first five seconds Veldrane's longsword had clashed with Zangetsu ten times as the two combatants traded blows. Neither Ichigo nor Veldrane gave the other person an inch of ground. The fight moved so fast that Rukia could barely keep up.

_Block Upper left, upper right, now lower right, counterattack low, swing high, block low_, thought Ichigo as he swung Zangetsu with his two hands. He was fighting to protect himself and Rukia, and for that cause he could not lose. Ichigo was just warming up.

_He's gotten so strong_, thought Rukia. Ichigo had told her that the past ten years had refined him in both body and mind, but the short shinigami hadn't expected this much strength. She had seen Ichigo fight that fast with his mask on while in his bankai, but he was doing it with only his shikai. _Compared to him I've remained the same, I'm so weak next to him._

Ichigo was reading the attacks perfectly, blocking and delivering counter attacks with deadly haste. He could fight like this without breaking a sweat, but he wasn't gaining any ground on the jinete. Neither of them had released more than a fraction of their true power, and neither had drawn blood. Worse, he had to deal with a timer on his match. The match was going nowhere, and it was taking up his time.

In his one hundred and sixth swing Ichigo charged a Getsuga Tensho and held it in the blade. Veldrane immediately reacted by locking his longsword with Zangetsu instead of counterattacking. The blades ground to a halt as the swordsmen pushed with all their might. Because of his two handed stance and the Getsuga Tensho in his zanpokuto Ichigo quickly gained enough force to finish his swing, sliding the blade down Veldrane's longsword as the two blades screeched together in a shower of sparks. As Zangetsu moved down it released its pent up energy and sent it barreling down on Veldrane at point blank range.

Veldrane took the full force of the blow and was carried back a good twenty feet as the wave crashed into overgrown trees in the background and obliterated them. Ichigo smirked as he waited for the jinete to get back up. He had killed that espada easily on the night of his return, this was a real fight. It had been ten years since Ichigo had a real fight.

"Seven minutes substitute," shouted Veldrane as he jumped back up onto his feet and shortened the distance between the two. "You fight stronger than any shinigami I've ever killed, and I've killed a lot of them."

Ichigo charge at Veldrane with Zangetsu in position to throw another energy laced slash. Veldrane blocked with both hands on his sword and this time locked up Zangetsu long enough for the charge to die out. Immediately Veldrane pulled back and slashed horizontally at Ichigo while Zangetsu aimed at the ground. Ichigo rotated zangetsu's blade slightly and turned the downward slash into an upward guard. The two blades locked again before Ichigo slid Zangetsu upwards with another Getsuga Tensho and released it, causing a massive explosion at point blank range.

It didn't have any effect though as Veldrane simply pulled his left hand off his longsword's grip and batted away the blast, shunting the direction to the left where it demolished several trees. With his bare hands Veldrane had stopped Ichigo's signature attack as though it was a harmless wave of water. Veldrane jumped backwards and shouted to the shinigami.

"Five minutes Ichigo Kurosaki." he said as he pointed his longsword at the shinigami. "It's a damn shame we're on a timer, I would like to see us both fighting with all of our potential."

Suddenly he used sonido to get within Ichigo's guard. He slashed downward at Ichigo's left arm as Ichigo barely managed to block the blade. Veldrane quickly angled his longsword at Ichigo and stabbed, lightly cutting Ichigo's arm as the shinigami flash stepped backwards to avoid the blow.

"That one strike each shinigami, I can see why the queen wants you," Veldrane said as he readied his blade again. "Four and a half minutes, do hurry up if you want to escape."

"Shut up!" shouted Ichigo as he threw another Getsuga Tensho at the jinete. Calmly the Jinete parried the attack with his blade. "You're counting fast and spending most of the time talking!"

"Four minutes now," said Veldrane. Immediately afterwards their fight was intterupted as they both stared at the sky.

* * *

A crack opened in the sky as three figures descended slowly. Ichigo knew what had happened. Someone had just opened a garganta and was descending. Ichigo was now outnumbered four to two. Above all he did not wish to put Rukia in any danger.

"Damn," said Veldrane as he sheathed his sword, "I guess they're impatient. Even though it wasn't ten minutes you're coming with us Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Fuck you I'm..." said Ichigo without finishing the sentence. Veldrane had used sonido and appeared behind him. Caught off guard and distracted, Ichigo was not prepared for Veldrane's attack. The jinete took his sheathed sword and smashed against the side of Ichigo's head with the pommel. The effects were instant as Ichigo collapsed to the ground motionless. Nearby, Rukia panicked and ran to the fallen shinigami.

"Ichigo!" she shouted as she flash stepped towards her friend and attempted to draw her sword. Immediately though Veldrane stood between them and had his hand on her blade.

"I promised him no harm would come to you," he said as he smashed his pommel into her face. On contact Rukia also fell unconscious. "Even though you can't hear me, it is a short term sedative, six hours of perfect sleep. Goodnight, sweet princess."

Then the jinete grabbed Ichigo's motionless body and used sonido to travel to the other horsemen. He waited as they landed with a grin on his face. When the other jinetes were on the ground one of them spoke up.

"How strong was he Veldrane?"

"He's amazing Chainer," said Veldrane with a grin from ear to ear. "I can see why the queen wants him."

"Good job Veldrane. Let's head back."

Veldrane walked beside them as Chainer opened a garganta back to Hueco Mundo. He held Ichigo over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as they ran into the portal and disappeared. Seconds later a barrier surrounding the graveyard shattered.

* * *

Captain Urahara and Schtauffen ran into the scene with a dozen unranked shinigami in tow. Urahara had received the distress call but had been locked out of the arena and could not help Ichigo in the fight. They entered the clearing just as the garganta closed. Schtauffen angrily cut down a dozen trees with a single slash as Urahara went to Rukia's side.

"Los jinetes del apocolypsis have finally made their move," said Urahara as he picked up the still unconscious Rukia and studied the scene. "We must inform the rest of the Gotei 13."

* * *

_Preview:_

_"Seriously, you've made it obvious who you are." Ichigo said as he grew more irritated at the game he knew she was playing. He had pieced together the facts though - devotion, trust, Ichigo the protector, great hatred for soul society._

_"Just come out..."_


	7. Chapter 7  The Queen of Hueco Mundo

****

A/N: 3,650 words in this chapter (my average seems to be going up), and 4,054 including the author note (jeese, thats alot) makes this the largest chapter yet. This chapter was _extremely_ difficult to get right, because if I messed up the presentation even a little it came across as contrived and confusing. More info on that later, because it may ruin the mood.

**On that note; This marks the 1/3rd point in the plot. I'll be taking a short break after this chapter to study and take a bunch of college exams (and I also need to organize and prepare my story notes). So, no Ten Years until wednesday (10/20/10) at the earliest. *runs from the angry mob***

**In regards to Ichigo's power level: Ichigo is super hax! He is capable of unfathomable power and I most certainly plan on abusing this small fact in later chapters (imagine an epic fight spanning three chapters and involving multiple *details deleted*). In this story his strength largely fluctuates based on his resolve. When he's confused it is as though he is swinging Zangetsu around while it is in a sheath. When he has set his heart in motion he can topple mountains (literally, we all read chapter 418).**

**bcsaturdai: Ishida is dead, I killed him in chapter 5. Based on the fact that he is the last to rejoin his friends we can infer that Chad is also dead. Isshin disappeared shortly after Ishida and Chad went to look for Orihime and Karin. I'll explain more in a few chapters.**

**********Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (I guess not even the OCs *sobs*); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue**

* * *

Chapter seven - the queen of Hueco Mundo.

"_**Ichigo, wake up.**_"

"_**Wake up partner.**_"

Ichigo awoke with a jump as he found himself in his inner world. He was standing on the side of one of the many buildings in his own version of Karakura town from before the war. A cold and heavy rain pelted his face relentlessly as he stared at the sky. There was no sun, just tremendous storm clouds that loomed ominously as they dumped their loads on his soul.

"_**Ichigo, you said you would not despair.**_" a voice called out from behind him. Ichigo turned around to face Zangetsu, who was standing still as the rain pelted him. "_**It is lonely in here; being pelted with an inescapable rain of despair does not help either. It has been raining nonstop since that damned meeting.**_"

"Old man Zangetsu," said Ichigo dryly, "you saw what I saw. My hometown has been destroyed, my friends have disappeared, and I was powerless to save them."

"**Not quite partner,**" said Shirosaki as he intruded on the conversation. Rain pelted the three men as it continued to fall relentlessly. "**You still have Soul Society, you still have your sister, you still have the goddess, and you still have your power. Times may have changed, but you are still you. That much is painfully obvious.**"

"_**Remember the words you said when you pulled me out Ichigo,**_" shouted Zangetsu. "_**Never let despair grip your soul. Surely you remember those words Ichigo.**_"

"Of course I do old man." said Ichigo as he wiped the rain from his eyes.

"_**Then say them with me Ichigo.**_" replied Zangetsu as he shouted from with all his power. To his great joy, Ichigo joined in while Shirosaki remained silent.

"Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never hesitate. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate!"

Ichigo smirked as he shouted to Zangetsu. They were right; Ichigo did still have all of those. Times may have changed but he was still the same Ichigo Kurosaki. He was the same substitute shinigami that he had been ten years ago. Nothing would change the fact that Ichigo would always be himself. He took solace in that information that he had nearly forgotten in his despair. Slowly the clouds parted as the rain let up. Ichigo thought to himself as the sun began to shine over the lopsided city, _times may have changed but I'm still me. I'm still the one who protects and I'm still here._

Then he realized that Shirosaki had upgraded Rukia's status. Ichigo thought about it for a few seconds when he realized that Shirosaki was right. Rukia was that important to him, and even though he would never admit it, he did harbor those romantic feelings that he buried deep inside his soul. He had always been too busy to grow them, but after this was over Ichigo vowed to tell her the truth.

Then Shirosaki appeared before him with his blade pointed at Ichigo's face. The giant cleaver rested centimeters from Ichigo's face but Ichigo didn't move. Immediately the hollow spoke up.

"**if you ever wallow in despair again I'll beat it out of you until you either snap out of it or give me control.**" the hollow shouted, "**I will not let you ruin us as you succumb to regret.**"

Ichigo continued smiling as Shirosaki pulled Zangetsu back and put it behind his shoulders. Zangetsu and Shirosaki had different ways of thinking, but they still wanted to protect what was the most important to them.

"I will not falter again," Ichigo said as he left his inner world. He dematerialized as he woke up in the real world leaving a smiling Zangetsu standing next to Shirosaki.

"_**You know it's going to be raining even worse in about ten minutes,**_" said Zangetsu as he stared at the calm sky.

"**I know,**" said Shirosaki, "**just** **don't tell him we can actually go in the buildings. It would ruin the dramatic effect.**"

* * *

Ichigo awoke to find himself resting comfortably in a great chair. Moonlight filtered from the numerous windows high above the chamber. He then remembered the past few events. He remembered his fight with Veldrane and his capture by the jinetes. based on the familiar atmosphere He knew he was in Hueco Mundo and figured he was probably in the remains of Las Noches. He saw Zangetsu slicing into the floor a few feet in front of him. He stood up and pulled it from the floor, Zangetsu's grip resting comfortably in his hand as Ichigo returned it to his back. Then Ichigo realized he wasn't alone.

"Good, you're up," said a voice as the owner stepped out of the shadows. "My name is Chainer and I'm the first jinete; the horseman known as pestilence."

As the man spoke Ichigo caught a good look at his body. The jinete wore a sleeveless black and gold uniform, accenting his extremely powerful frame. His left arm had a large tattoo which was offset by the gold and black glove on his right hand. At his waist he had a ball and chain weapon and long dagger, Ichigo could not tell which one was his zanpokuto. Black and gold leather pants met black and gold boots to finish the man's clothing. The man was dressed for combat; the clothing was simple yet ornate in that it obviously offered plenty of protection while not restricting his movement.

Chainer had short black hair cut in a military crew cut. The remains of his mask formed goggles that rested just above his eyes, oddly enough the mask remains were black unlike the usual white. He carried a short mustache and goatee around his dark mouth. None of this compared to the eerie look of his eyes, instead of normal eyes they were like two pitch black holes that extended forever. The eyes were what unnerved Ichigo the most.

"Forgive me Ichigo Kurosaki," said Chainer when he noticed the shinigami staring at his eyes, "I just got a new pet. Do you have any questions about why you are here?"

Ichigo contemplated the remark for a few seconds as he pondered the situation. _If they aren't here to kill me, why am I here?_

"Who is this queen?" asked Ichigo inquisitively behind his trademark scowl, "why does she want me?"

"Forgive me again, Ichigo Kurosaki, I cannot answer that." Chainer said. Suddenly he raised his gloved right hand and pointed to an ornate door. "The queen will answer those questions for you."

Chainer disappeared back into the shadows as the door slowly opened, revealing a long hallway that lead to what looked like a staircase. Ichigo walked to the door and stepped inside.

_If I can't go back, I might as well as go forwards._

* * *

The queen was delighted to see Ichigo Kurosaki step in. She had waited so long for this moment. She had warred against soul society and scoured the world looking for him. Her heart beat faster as she sat on her throne, safely in the shadows. She was glad that Ichigo couldn't see her because her emotions betrayed her. As he walked into the chamber cautiously she spoke up.

"Ichigo, my savior has finally arrived."

"Who's there?" Ichigo shouted as he responded to the voice. Suddenly a light lit up to signal him where to go. He cautiously walked towards the light as he got a response.

"Ichigo, can you remember me? You protected me for so long. You were the unstoppable strawberry. You're the greatest brother, son, friend, and soul alive. I didn't even know about Soul Society when they took you away from us."

"You're answering in riddles!" Ichigo shouted as he continued to walk towards the light. It was a long corridor and he had only crossed about half the distance. _Who is she? How does she know about me?_

"After you first became a shinigami I feared you would leave us forever. When you returned I felt my heart rejoice. Then they took you away again."

"Who are you?" Ichigo shouted.

"That time, Soul Society took you away forever. I didn't know much about Soul Society, but your family suffered greatly. We all scoured the ends of the earth looking for you. Everyone except that raven-haired bitch!"

"Don't talk about Rukia that way!" shouted Ichigo as he stopped about twenty feet from the light and waited. "She waited for my return knowing that I would keep my promise."

"I was alone after the nuclear bomb landed. I was spirited here after the weapon picked my bones clean. I kept myself together knowing that you would come and save me. I grew strong in your image, just like you. I slaughtered armies in self defense. I conquered the realm just like you would have, waiting for your return."

"I'm sorry I was late," said Ichigo as he stood in the hallway. The voice was coming from everywhere and even though it was familiar it felt different. It was annoying him that the person kept avoiding naming herself, even though he had a general idea. "Stop avoiding the question, I know who you are. Confirm my belief."

"Ichigo, soul society took you and everyone else away from me. Now that you're here I'm finally safe again. Others came and said you were dead, but I still waited. We never even got to say goodbye."

"Seriously, you've made it obvious who you are," Ichigo said as he grew more irritated at the game he knew she was playing. He had pieced together the facts though - devotion, trust, Ichigo the protector, great hatred for soul society.

"Just come out... Karin."

* * *

Out stepped the queen. Karin wore torn shinigami robes with a small zanpokuto at her waist. She was beautiful. Karin looked like she was in her early twenties and, just like Yuzu, had grown into a fine woman. Her jet black hair extended past her shoulders. It parted along her bangs to show a pair of tear filled eyes and a quivering upper lip. Karin ran from the shadows and embraced Ichigo as he hugged her tightly.

_She's been suffering because of me_, Ichigo thought to himself as he rubbed Karin's hair. _I never wanted to hurt her._

"Ichi-nii, you've finally come to save me," said Karin as she cried with her face in Ichigo's chest. "I knew you would come rescue me Ichi-nii, even when everyone else gave up hope."

"I'll always be here for you Karin." said Ichigo as he rubbed her hair with his left hand. A smile of pure joy radiated from his face as he finished his sentence. "Let's go back to Soul Society."

As if she was hugging a cactus, Karin immediately pulled from Ichigo's grasp. Ichigo stared at her in surprise as she turned her frown into a hate filled scowl. She held her hands at her sides as she quietly whispered her response.

"No Ichi-nii," said Karin. "I will burn Soul Society to the ground and sow salt in the earth so that they may never return."

"Wha...what? Why?" shouted Ichigo in confusion as he did a double take. His sister had just said something completely unexpected. Ichigo didn't want to hear the answer though; he just wanted to protect his sister.

"Ichigo, brother," said Karin as she stepped back from him in horror. "We did nothing to harm them, but they took everything from me... From you! They let us die and left us to rot! They took you from me and didn't even bother to tell me why! Even now they try to extinguish the flame that burns inside of my heart."

"Karin..." said Ichigo as he tried to comfort his sister. When he approached her she moved back as though she was a monster. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she continued her rant.

"Ten years ago you left us saying you would return. They said you died but I still believed what Orihime told me. I prayed every night that they would come back and tell me that you were still alive. Then the world went to hell!"

"Karin, I'm sorry." said Ichigo as he backed his sister into a corner. She suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him. Ichigo thought to himself as he turned around to face her, _she knows flash steps, she really has grown since I last saw her_.

"You have nothing to apologize for Ichigo. But those damn shinigami wouldn't even acknowledge our plight on earth. They ignored us until we were crushed like bugs and still they didn't help. I watched as the bomb hit Ichigo. I saw my friends completely destroyed in the explosion. I died that day Ichigo, and dying sucks."

* * *

Ichigo did not say anything as he continued stared at Karin with wounded eyes. He knew how much dying hurt, it had happened to him. Dying was something he never wished for his sister to experience.

"I waited for them to save me. At the very least they could have put me out of my misery. I sat in that charred field for three days as my soul chain slowly eroded. I was in pure agony as I prayed for anyone to help me, I needed you Ichigo."

Karin's story ate at Ichigo's soul. Her despair was his despair, her pain was his pain. Ichigo could see how she had come to hate soul society, but that didn't make it right. Ichigo had to explain it to her but Karin continued to talk.

"Then as my chain eroded to the last bit I remembered Urahara's story of you. In the last second I saved myself and became what I hate most. Ichigo, you were my bastion of support even when you weren't here. Without you I would have died a lonely death. Eventually I was spirited away to Hueco Mundo and spent an eternity growing stronger for you. Not once did soul society send anyone to help me."

"Karin, I'm sure that if they knew they would have sent help." reasoned Ichigo as he spoke to his sister. "There's no reason to hate them."

"They did know Ichigo, and there's plenty of reason to hate them. Five years ago they started sending Shinigami bastards to kill me. They almost killed me too, but I survived and now my armies are bringing them ruin. Now that you're finally here I can complete our revenge."

"There's no way that Soul Society would send people to hurt you Karin, I refuse to believe that that was their intention." said Ichigo as he tried to piece together the story. He knew Soul Society was often uncaring and slow, but there was no way they would send people to hurt his sister. Yet, at the same time he wanted to believe Karin's words. Ichigo was confused, and heartbroken.

_It must have been some great misunderstanding. It just has to be, I cannot believe that this is the truth._

"Can't you see the truth Ichigo? You would rather believe those monsters than your own sister! They abandoned us, let us die, tried to destroy me, and you defend them! They've even turned you against me!"

That last accusation hurt. Ichigo felt like the words had stabbed him through his heart and pithed relentlessly. The gathering black clouds in his soul erupted in a storm of the coldest and hardest rain Zangetsu and Shirosaki had ever felt. Tears rolled down Ichigo's face as he stared at his sister who was also crying her heart out.

* * *

"Karin, Soul Society would never do something like that..."

"I'm telling you the truth Ichigo. Can't you believe me!" she screamed as she drew her sword. Her blade was a white ivory short sword with a small tassel on the end, on the end of the tassel was a charm with Ichigo's name on it. She pointed her blade at Ichigo as she continued to scream. "They do not care about us, they even want me dead. They constantly send people to try and kill me Ichigo; I had to kill a group of them led by a captain last week! Even now they wish to use you against me, you just can't see it!"

Ichigo couldn't draw his sword, not on his own sister. He fought to protect, but to protect Soul Society he had to fight his own sister. To protect his sister he had to fight Soul society. It was an impossible choice for him to make. He had tried to reason with Karin, but she was being irrational. He refused to believe that Soul Society was actively seeking the death of his sister. Emotions radiated from her as he read the confusion, pain, and torment that afflicted her. Panic welled in his heart as Ichigo watched Karin release her sword.

"Vindicate, Nakigetsu!"

Ichigo watched as the blade grew into an overgrown cleaver with a long black ribbon flowing from the end. The blade was a perfect ivory white despite its metallic shine. Ichigo stared at it in disbelief; Nakigetsu - weeping moon - was a near perfect replica of Zangetsu. Karin held it in one hand effortlessly as tears rolled down her face.

"Weeping Moon. Just like your Slaying Moon and dad's Scathing Moon. She has helped me in everything that I have done." Karin said in sadness as she moved into a two handed grip preparing for an attack. "Join me or draw Zangetsu! If you can't believe your own sister then Soul Society has already turned you against me. I'm sorry Ichigo, but it has to be this way. Please, make the right choice… For me."

Seconds passed in awkward silence as Karin got her answer. Ichigo could not join her. She wept in her heart as she attacked her brother. She had tried to explain to him, but he could not see the truth. Soul Society had truly tainted his heart against her. Tears streamed down her eyes as she moved her blade.

* * *

Karin flash stepped to Ichigo and slashed upward at his chest. To her shock Ichigo only moved his arm and caught Nakigetsu with one hand. Karin had not put much strength into the blow but she did not expect him to catch it barehanded. She had hoped that Ichigo would join her and they could finally have their revenge together. She did not want it this way; Karin had desperately hoped that Ichigo would have believed her. She did not wish to fight her own brother. Doing so would break her heart in irreparable ways. With a surprised look on her face, Karin stared at the mask that partially covered Ichigo's face in surprise.

The left side of Ichigo's face had hollowfied and became covered with a white mask that had two thick black stripes that extended above and below the eye slit at a slight angle. Ichigo's left eye was yellow on black as he smiled at Karin with a sickening grin. The mask continued as Ichigo laughed in a voice that wasn't his.

"**Ichigo isn't in a talking mood right now.**" Shirosaki snickered as he held onto Karin's blade with his left hand and grabbed Zangetsu with his right. "**Please leave a message after the beep.**"

Shirosaki pulled Zangetsu from his back as he slashed at Karin faster than almost faster than she could see. She jumped back as Shirosaki charged a Getsuga Tensho midswing and released it to continue his attack. The explosion threw up enough debris and rubble to partially obscured Karin. Shirosaki's mask finished forming as he laughed. The mask had finished forming into the menacing skull that Ichigo's mask always took, but it was completely black with four white strips extending above and below the eyes at small angles. His eyes perfectly matched each other as he held Zangetsu at the ready. Ichigo had finally given him his turn at bat, and Shirosaki was hell bent on enjoying it.

"**I would say beep, but I know you're not dead.**"

Out of the rubble came Karin as she slashed out at Shirosaki.

"Give me back my brother!"

* * *

Preview:

_Ichigo awoke in his inner world as the cold rain relentlessly pelted his back. He slowly got up and watched as the black clouds turned red and the rain turned into blood. He stared at the sky when he remembered he gave Shirosaki his turn in Ichigo's body. As he stared at the bloody rain he heard zangetsu's familiar voice behind him._

_

* * *

_

**Please drop a review if you like the story / hate the story / spot a glaring error / anything else. If you're confused about what Karin is talking about, it's a plot twist. Who do you believe, is Karin telling the truth or is she trying to play Ichigo? leave your theory in a review! (shameless plug). Remember, no new chapters until 10/20/10.**


	8. Chapter 8  Inner Demons

**A/N: Exams are done, I've hammered out decent story progression for the plot, and someone bought me a Klondike Bar! At 3,567 words before the A/N this chapter was a slog to right. There were lots of elements that were hard to get right (such as Karin, Ichigo, Shirosaki, and that darned Klondike bar). And yes, I realize that Karin's actions don't make much sense (there's a reason for that).**

**Further A/N is being cut short in favor of user reviews:**

**bcsaturdai: sorry to hear about that, I hope this chapter (and the preview) helps you out.**

**lilica: I started reading bleach around the time that Aizen first beat the pulp out of Ichigo. Throughout the manga he's been that hotheaded and irrational protagonist that everyone loves to watch. In my mind and story, Ichigo has matured in the past ten years. Fear once locked up his blade, but thats gone. Ichigo's alot calmer because of that. He still has character flaws that he must overcome though.**

**persistence: Isshin and Los Jinetes del Apocolypsis (god, i love that name) will have backstories explained. We've already seen two of them (Chainer and Veldrane) and the final two will be revealed shortly.**

**Experimentnumber628 & others: some of the above theories? Plot thickens later as Ichigo struggles to make sense of the world.**

**********Disclaimer: I do not own bleach nor any characters (I guess not even the OCs *sobs*); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue.**

* * *

Chapter eight - Inner Demons

_I can't hurt her..._

_**We need to defend ourselves...**_

_I can't raise my sword against my sister..._

**Then let me raise it for you...**

_Very well..._

* * *

"Give me back Ichigo!" Karin screamed as she charged at Shirosaki with Nakigetsu prepared to strike. Dust still fell as they clashed blades in her inner sanctum. Karin had tried a diagonal downward slash that Shirosaki effortlessly countered with Zangetsu. Zangetsu met his sister blade as they clashed together and rang out their impact. Shirosaki pushed his blade forward and knocked Karin off balance before stabbing forward with Zangetsu. Zangetsu's tip narrowly avoided drawing blood from Karin's chest when she flash stepped away to put a safe distance between her and Ichigo's hollow.

Ichigo had voluntarily yielded control of his body to Shirosaki, and Shirosaki wanted to have some fun. This was his first time in the real world in Ichigo's free will. Still, he knew he would have to hold back or he would effortlessly slay Ichigo's sister. Killing Karin was definitely on the list of things not to do if Shirosaki ever wanted to have control of Ichigo's body again. He left out a bellowing laughter behind his mask as he shouted his response to Karin.

"**I told you, Ichigo doesn't want to talk to you**!" Shirosaki shouted as he used sonido to appear behind Karin. Out of reflex Karin swung body around and slashed out at the hollow. Shirosaki used sonido again to avoid the blow and once more appeared behind her, this time with Zangetsu held high ready to strike. Shirosaki brought his blade down with a terrific speed and slashed across Karin's back where he cut through her clothing and drew a thin line of blood. He had hoped to cut deeper and disable her, but at the last moment she had shifted her weight to minimize the force of the blow.

Rather than flinching, Karin continued her swing and brought it around full circle aimed at Shirosaki's chest. Shirosaki raised his hand to stop the blade and he caught it with his palm. This time though, Karin had succeeded in drawing blood, just barely breaking the skin, as Shirosaki immediately brought Zangetsu upwards in a forward slash. With Shirosaki still lightly holding Nakigetsu with his bleeding hand Karin had no choice but to flash step away to avoid the impact. Shirosaki felt his hand stop bleeding as his instant regeneration kicked in.

"I won't allow you or anyone else to keep Ichigo from me!" Karin screamed as she flash stepped in front of Shirosaki with her blade raised. Nakigetsu descended so quickly that Shirosaki barely had time to pull Zangetsu upwards to block the blow. He angled his attack and used the angle to allow Nakigetsu to continue its motion into the ground. With Karin slightly open, he changed the direction of Zangetsu so that the blade faced Karin and charged a dark wave of energy.

"**Getsuga Tensho**!" Shirosaki screamed as he sent the wave barreling towards Karin at point blank range. He had barely charged it so there was not much power inside the attack, but it was enough to force Karin to flash step backwards to avoid the attack again. Shirosaki was getting very tired at the amount of flash steps that Karin was using. He watched as the Getsuga Tensho crashed into a wall and demolish a portion of it, revealing a dark moonlit sky outside. He was in the process of charging another Getsuga Tensho when he saw Karin land.

"**Getsuga Tensho**!" Shirosaki screamed as he once again sent the attack towards Karin at lightning speed. Karin had barely landed when the attack was nearly on top of her. Shirosaki expected her to once again move out of the way, but to his surprise Karin didn't dodge. Instead she twisted her body around and attacked the Getsuga Tensho. White energy radiated from her blade as she slashed into the black flames.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Karin screamed as she released a pure white wave of energy that collided with the flames. Black met white as the two attacks struggled for dominance. The energy illuminated the dark corridor for a few moments before they both died without deciding which one was stronger. Karin paused for a moment to catch her breath when she realized her mistake.

Shirosaki used sonido to get behind Karin. From point blank range he drove his foot upward into her back. The force of the attack knocked Karin airborne as she rebalanced herself just in time to avoid hitting the approaching wall face first. She landed on the wall with her feet and crouched slightly before kicking off of it and charging Shirosaki. Shirosaki eagerly awaited her to charge as he prepared his next attack.

"Give me back Ichigo!" Karin screamed as she rapidly closed the distance between the two combatants. She charged Nakigetsu and threw out another perfectly white Getsuga Tensho. The white energy travelled in front of her at Shirosaki but at the last moment he disappeared, leaving the attack to collide with the wall he was standing next to. The attack shattered the wall and left a gaping hole which lead to the sky and dome of Las Noches.

" **Cero**!"

Shirosaki had used sonido again to get within her guard. This time he appeared directly at her body which was parallel to the ground. Karin flipped her body to watch as Shirosaki fired the cero into the air and used the force to drive his elbow into her stomach. Karin screamed in pain as the impact smashed her into the ground where she bounced with a sickening thud. She remained on the ground as he walked to the hole in the wall and jumped out before flying to the dome of Las Noches.

Karin watched as Shirosaki jumped through the hole. Regret filled her actions and she was not quite sure why she had attacked her brother. It had been a lapse of judgment, and she had alienated her brother. She never wanted to hurt her brother. She slowly picked herself up off the floor and walked to the hole. She sighed as she jumped out and pursued Shirosaki.

* * *

"**Shit**," Shirosaki said to himself in frustration as he flew towards the top of the dome. He had almost obliterated Karin with that last attack. He had originally aimed the cero at Karin's chest before he realized what he was doing and aimed it upwards, driving his elbow into her instead. "**I really hope that damn strawberry isn't rubbing off on me**."

Shirosaki charged a Getsuga Tensho as he neared the top of the dome. He slashed upwards and fired the attack, causing the dome to explode open as it gave him a doorway to fly through. He probably couldn't continue the fight without seriously harming Karin, and he wanted to have control of Ichigo's body again. He started to open a garganta when he realized he wasn't alone at the top of the dome. He sighed as he closed the portal and turned around.

"**As Ichigo was trying to tell you queen**," said Shirosaki as he raised his blade and pointed the blade at Karin, "**He wants to believe you but he can't. Let him get his feelings sorted out and he'll get back to you**."

"**Lies, nothing but damn lies.**" said Karin as the ever-present moon illuminated her face. She stood stoic as she held Nakigetsu to her side, the tip barely touching the ground. Shirosaki got a good look at her face. More accurately he was staring at her mask and it was surprisingly similar to his. Her mask was the same shape as Ichigo's menacing skull, but there were three stripes on the mask that angled slightly as they drew a slightly curved black line that connected both of the eyes together and extended to just above where Karin's ears would be. "**Soul Society has turned him against me, if I let him go now I will lose him forever**."

_**I guess being thick headed runs in the family**_, Shirosaki thought as he denied her a response. He readied Zangetsu as Karin prepared to charge with Nakigetsu raised high. Shirosaki was bored of the fight; he couldn't hurt Karin without crushing Ichigo's willpower. He resolved himself to the fact that it would probably be a long time before he could get out into the real world again. With a sigh he spoke up and broke the silence.

"**Fine, let me get him."**

* * *

Ichigo awoke in his inner world as the cold rain relentlessly pelted his back. He slowly got up and watched as the black clouds turned red and the rain turned into blood. He stared at the sky when he remembered he gave Shirosaki his turn in Ichigo's body. As he stared at the bloody rain he heard Zangetsu's familiar voice behind him.

"_**What do you protect?**_" asked Zangetsu as he stood at the edge of the building. Ichigo said nothing as he thought hard about the question.

"_**What do you protect?**_" asked Zangetsu again as he stared at the blood-soaked shinigami. Blood continued to cover both of them as Zangetsu confronted Ichigo. "_**Shirosaki and I protect you and our pride. What do you protect?**_"

Ichigo lost sight of Zangetsu when he flash stepped out of his eye range. That second Ichigo drew his sword and turned just in time to block Zangetsu. Zangetsu had slashed at Ichigo's neck, if he hadn't blocked at that exact moment he would have easily been decapitated. Ichigo used his blade to push Zangetsu back when he shouted his response.

"I can't hurt my sister!"

"_**But you can raise your blade against someone who shares your soul with you.**_" said Zangetsu as he coldly stared at Ichigo. "_**Pathetic.**_"

"I swore to protect Karin and everyone else when I first became a shinigami, I cannot raise my blade against her. Doing so would destroy everything that I've worked so hard for."

"_**But you can raise your blade against me.**_" said Zangetsu as he held his blade straight upwards. He was angry at Ichigo, partially because of his shortsightedness and partially because of his belief that everything would always end up fine. More importantly, he was angry that Ichigo had sworn never to let it rain again. Yet here they were, both being soaked with the filthiest and most putrescent rain he had ever felt in his life. He dryly asked Ichigo another question as the blood rain continued to rain endlessly. "_**Why?**_"

"Because you're trying to teach me something." said Ichigo as he held his blade at his side. Suddenly Zangetsu disappeared as Ichigo raised his blade to block. Zangetsu's blade slashed towards Ichigo as the shinigami effortlessly blocked and counterattacked.

"_**Wrong,**_" shouted Zangetsu as he evaded Ichigo's swing and returned the favor with another slice, this time aimed at Ichigo's feet. "_**Outside I am fighting against Nakigetsu, my sister sword spirit. I fight to protect, but I must hurt her to protect you.**_"

Ichigo lightly jumped over the blade and above Zangetsu effortlessly. Rather than counterattacking again, Ichigo instead continued the momentum and landed behind Zangetsu. Zangetsu quickly turned around and moved his blade to block an attack that never came. Ichigo stood still as he let Zangetsu's words register inside of his mind. He thought about the comment as Zangetsu lowered his sword and waited patiently.

_If Zangetsu fights to protect what is dear to him, how can he raise his soul against what he swore to protect..._

_Unless he means to protect what is most dear to him..._

_Of course he does, but what is most important to me..._

_I once knew, but no I don't know anymore…_

_Being mature is completely overrated..._

"_**Ichigo, do you understand now?**_" asked Zangetsu as he saw the realization on Ichigo's face. "_**What do you protect?**_"

"I protect what is most dear to me!" Ichigo shouted to his sword. The rain let up ever so slightly as Ichigo waited as Zangetsu replied in affirmation.

"_**Exactly Ichigo,**_" said Zangetsu, "_**do you know why you couldn't raise me against your sister?**_"

"Because I cannot decide which is more important to me, nor can I decide where my loyalty lies." said Ichigo in a disparaging tone. Ichigo could not raise his sword against his sister, but he could not stand idle as someone threatened Soul Society. Whichever path he chose would cause unspeakable damage to the other. He wanted to believe his sister with all of his heart. Something told him that she was not lying to him. On the other hand, he refused to believe that Soul Society had callously decided to destroy Karin like she said they had. Something was wrong.

"_**In time you will Ichigo, you despair now because you haven't decided. Eventually you will be forced to decide, make the choice wisely.**_" said Zangetsu in a merciful tone. Zangetsu always had a way of teaching Ichigo a lesson in a few minutes that would take forever and a day for him to learn on his own. Suddenly Shirosaki's voice boomed around Ichigo to get his attention.

"**Pay attention to this Ichigo,**" shouted Shirosaki in an omnipotent voice, "**I'm only teaching you this once, and you can only do this with your mask on.**"

Ichigo stood still as he felt Shirosaki release a cero and drive his elbow into Karin's guts. The rain picked up as his consciousness memorized the attack. Shirosaki had charged a cero using pure willpower and in his traditional unorthodox manner had driven it into Karin. Ichigo knew it had originally been aimed at his sister's chest but at the last moment he dug into his soul and flipped Shirosaki's hand upwards to protect his sister.

Ichigo regretted having to harm his sister, but it was better than obliterating her. Zangetsu watched as a single tear fell from Ichigo's face. Suddenly he felt Shirosaki giving back Ichigo control of his body. Ichigo dissolved in his inner world as he heard Shirosaki say two short words.

"**Your turn.**"

* * *

Ichigo found himself at the top of the dome staring down his sister. The moonlight radiated off her frame as he assessed the situation. Ichigo had Zangetsu in his hands as Karin stood with Nakigetsu in her right hand. Covering her head was a mask that closely mimicked his own mask. Ichigo willed the mask that covered his face away and watched as Karin lifted hers.

_Great, she has an inner hollow too_, Ichigo thought to himself as he lowered Zangetsu out of the defensive stance that Shirosaki had left his body in. Karin sealed her sword and sheathed it. Karin quickly broke the silence that had been created by their disarmament.

"Ichigo, if I have to destroy soul society to get you back I will. They have turned you against your own sister!" Karin screamed as tears streamed down her face. She fell to her knees and wiped tears from her eyes with her right sleeve as she tried to fight back the water. It was as though a floodgate had been opened and she couldn't close it.

_Great_, thought Ichigo, _She's having a mental breakdown._

"Why can't you believe me?"

"As I was trying to say; I want to believe you, Karin." said Ichigo as he slowly walked towards his sister. When he saw her crying his heart melted. It seemed that no matter what Karin did, the sight of her crying invoked a primal instinct in him to comfort her. "I cannot let someone harm Soul Society though. I also cannot believe that they would willingly do you harm. Can you understand my hesitation? They haven't turned me against you. There was no reason to attack me."

"But they have relentlessly done us nothing but wrong. Ichigo open your eyes!" screamed Karin as she watched Ichigo near the distance between them; he was only a handful of feet away now. She extended a hand as Ichigo reached out to lift her to her feet and embrace her. They were Inches apart when they were cruelly separated from each other.

* * *

Ichigo was about to reach out and grab Karin when a yellow cave surrounded him on all sides, extending upwards nearly forever. Ichigo watched as Karin screamed something inaudible at Ichigo and quickly got up. He held his hands against the side of the cage and watched Karin as he began to levitate upwards into the sky. He watched her bang her fists against the cage as she screamed, once more without sound. All the while tears bled from her eyes. He suddenly began to levitate and very slowly Karin became smaller and smaller as he travelled upwards.

The cage reminded Ichigo of something he had seen a very long time ago when he had first seen Aizen. In expectation he looked upwards and his questions were instantly answered. At the top of the cage there was a hole from which Urahara was watching the situation. From both sides of the cage Urahara spoke so that both the Kurosaki's could hear.

"Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but Soul Society needs Ichigo back. I have used a reverse negacion to break up the fight." said Urahara as he hid his face with a paper fan. Karin locked eyes with Urahara as tears splashed on the ground. "Karin Kurosaki, good to see you well."

"Give him back you monster!"

* * *

Karin watched as her brother disappeared from her again. He had been taken away from her by Soul Society again. The bastards in the Gotei 13 had stolen Ichigo from her – again – and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt powerless and weak as she watched Ichigo travel to the top of the negacion and get pulled through the barrier. The barrier quietly shattered as she cursed her fate.

_Why must they always hurt me?_ She asked herself as tears fell from her eyes. _Ichigo wants to believe me but he also believes the lies those monsters tell him. They'll poison him against me and he'll never believe the truth…_

She collapsed to her knees again and wept as her inner spirits spoke to her in her time of despair.

"_**You can still get him back. Ichigo has turned against you not because he doesn't love you but because of his allegiance to Soul Society**_." whispered Nakigetsu quietly. "_**He wants to believe you.**_

"**You just have to burn soul society to the ground so he has no one to protect but you**."

Karin stopped crying as she heard her sword and hollow speak to her. They were right, they were always right. If she eliminated his obligations to Soul Society he would have no reason to doubt her. She would expose them for their lies in front of him and then he would join her after she wiped them from existence. It made perfect sense to her, it was perfect.

"Jinetes!" she screamed. Within seconds all four of her servants stood in a line in front of her. In one uniform motion they all bowed to her awaiting command. "Get the espada. We will burn Soul Society to the ground."

* * *

Preview:

_Gently he picked up the sleeping midget trying not to wake her. He picked her up by her shoulders and softly lifted her up off of his legs. He slowly moved her just a little so that she was still on the bed next to him. Then Rukia's robe ripped, ichigo lost his grip, and she bounced off the bed before landing face first on the floor._


	9. Chapter 9  Non Squitor

**A/N: This chapter is 3,437 words (not including the author note). Versions one through four were well over 4-5k in range, which honestly felt like they were trying to accomplish too much in too short of time. As a result I minced the next few chapters apart and restructured them. Hopefully this improves the story flow.**

**Also; this chapter was uploaded from a Starbucks coffee shop (the beans must flow!) because my internet at home has gone down - the internet provider says its a cable problem for the whole neighborhood but they're just jacking me around to avoid having to replace the router (its permenantly down now). I don't know how this is going to affect my uploading times, but this and the next few chapters are probably going to come out slower than I would like. For example, this chapter was done several days ago. Sorry, but thems the breaks.**

**As always, sorry for the slow updates and please review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own bleach or any characters (I guess not even the OCs *sobs*); Tite Kubo owns everything. Please don't sue.**

* * *

Chapter nine – non sequitur.

Urahara stood above a well in the twelfth division headquarters. He stared down into it as he fiddled with a control board that maintained the power into the opening to keep it stable. Electricity hummed in the background as he focused his attention at the switches. If he screwed up the power flow, even just a little, the entire operation would explode in his face - literally. He sighed in relief as the blond head of Ichigo Kurosaki slowly rose out of the structure.

"What the hell is going on Urahara?" the confused shinigami yelled. Ichigo jumped out of the barrier and stared at Urahara. He was about to embrace his sister when he had been rudely interrupted and lost her again. Worse, Urahara had specifically pulled Ichigo Kurosaki up, and only Ichigo Kurosaki. Karin Kurosaki had been left in Hueco Mundo alone, cruelly separated at a time when she needed her brother the most.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." said Ichigo as he walked towards the captain. Nothing made sense, not anymore. Most importantly though, he wanted to know what exactly had happened to turn Karin against Soul Society to such a degree that she would attack her own brother over it. _What did Soul Society do to her?_

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I can explain." said Urahara as he continued to fiddle with the keyboard. Urahara wasn't watching Ichigo though; he had all of his attention focused on a screen that had several charts and graphs. Suddenly a red light went off and a siren screeched. Urahara pushed a button and then backed away from his keyboard. "First get your head down."

"What are you…?"

Ichigo's sentence was cut off as a tremendous fireball exploded out of the well. It expanded horizontally and covered the entirety of Ichigo's vision. Searing heat came from the fire as it leapt upwards and crashed into the ceiling. Seconds later Kisuke Urahara was spraying the area down with a fire extinguisher.

"Sorry about that my young friend. We can also fix that eyebrow," said Urahara as he put out the fire on the ceiling and turned his attention to Ichigo Kurosaki. On reflex Ichigo put his hand to his head and felt his eyebrows. His left one was fine but the right eyebrow had been completely singed off. A vein nearly burst in Ichigo's head as he resisted the urge to pull Zangetsu out and start slashing up his old teacher in rage. Urahara had his trademark pokerfaced smile on his face as he pulled out his fan. "It's still not exactly stable. You were saying?"

Ichigo stood with his trademark scowl as he stared at the crazy scientist. He could not tell if Kisuke had just done that as a distraction or if he had actually submitted Ichigo to a potentially disastrous experiment. Regardless, he did not doubt the fact that both were equally likely when dealing with the captain of the twelfth division.

"As I was saying Urahara," said Ichigo in a rather pissed off tone. His trademark scowl looked extremely comical with only one eyebrow and Urahara stifled a laugh at the annoyed shinigami. "You've got a lot of explaining to do. Also I want that eyebrow back"

"Ichigo that was an accident. I'm sorry." said Urahara as he reached into a toolbox lying on the floor. He pulled out a small canister of what looked to be keyboard cleaning compressed air and attached a small straw to the end of it. He walked towards Ichigo and shook the bottle. "Close your eyes."

"Not about that…" said Ichigo as he sighed. He closed his eyes and seethed in anger as he tried to explain his frustrations. Ichigo heard a quiet hissing sound and felt a wave of coldness hit where his eyebrow had once been. Immediately he felt hairs growing where his eyebrow used to be. "Good lord, you really do have something for any situation. I still want answers though."

"About what?" asked Urahara as he returned the canister to the toolbox that it had came from. "Are you sure you don't want me to do the rest of your hair too? You looked completely epic with it when it was below your shoulders."

Ichigo nearly attacked Urahara for that last comment, but he restrained himself. He had tried to be patient with his old teacher, but it was quickly wearing on his nerves. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. Ichigo ignored Kisuke's last comment and continued his inquisition.

"… Why the hell is Karin in Hueco Mundo and why is she hell bent on destroying Soul Society?"

"Oh… That." said Kisuke Urahara as his eyes narrowed in a very serious tone. He fanned himself quietly as he stared into Ichigo's eyes. "I plead the fifth."

"Stop avoiding the question Urahara. When I met her she swore that she would raze Soul Society to the ground. What the hell could you have done to her to turn her against you that much?" asked Ichigo as his anger continued to build. Ten years ago he would have beaten the crap out of Kisuke Urahara for hiding something from him. Unfortunately he knew that breaking his teacher's jaw wouldn't get him the story any faster. Instead he waited for the captain to make his move. Ichigo closed his eyes again and gave the ultimatum.

"You have exactly five seconds to start explaining before I start breaking your lab."

_No use in dodging the subject_, thought Kisuke as he sighed in a defeated manner. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tube. Thanks to Ichigo having his eyes closed, Kisuke was able to bring it up to his lips and quickly blow. A small dart shot out of the tube and lodged itself in Ichigo's neck. Instantly Ichigo opened his eyes and grabbed his neck.

"What the hell?" shouted Ichigo as he pulled at the dart. With a rough tug, Ichigo ripped the dart from his neck and stared at the crazy scientist. Then Ichigo realized his vision was getting a little blurry and he was beginning to wobble in place. He tried to say something but his mouth wouldn't move.

_Shit, he shot me with a tranquilizer, _Ichigo struggled to remain on his feet as the feeling in his limbs grew number and number. Ichigo went to one knee to support himself before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed on the floor motionless. _What the hell is with everyone and tranquilizers?_

Kisuke Urahara waited a few seconds before moving to the downed shinigami to make sure that the tranquilizer had taken effect. He reached into his pockets again and pulled out a small, sealed letter. Then he walked over to Ichigo and checked his pulse. Confident that he hadn't overdone the dosage and killed Ichigo he picked up the shinigami like a sack of potatoes and wrapped the letter in Zangetsu's cloth ribbon.

"I'm not qualified to tell you the truth Ichigo, I'm sorry." said Urahara glumly as he picked carried Ichigo out of the room. He held the unconscious shinigami under his arm as he walked out of the twelfth division headquarters and into the night. Urahara quietly walked in the Seireitei as he reached his destination. He quietly knocked on the door of the Kuchiki manor and the gate opened.

_I might not be able to tell you the truth, but I hope you find your answers Ichigo,_ Urahara thought as he deposited the drugged up shinigami in the manor. Afterwards he left to tell the Gotei 13 that he had successfully extracted Ichigo Kurosaki from Hueco Mundo.

* * *

Ichigo awoke in with a start. The last thing he remembered was narrowly avoiding being incinerated by a massive fireball in Urahara's lab. His head throbbed and he tried to remember what had happened. All he could think of was how much his head hurt though. It was like he had woken up from a terrible nightmare; his sister was some crazy genocidal maniac that demanded the death of Soul Society and he had to stand between them. Then he grabbed his head as realized he wasn't dreaming.

Slowly he remembered his last conscious moments. He had tried to question Kisuke Urahara about the truth, only to be answered with a tranquilizer dart. Ichigo's head throbbed again as he silently swore to maim the scientist, wherever the hell he was.

_Where am I anyways,_ thought Ichigo. He looked around and found himself in a small bed inside of a small room. Moonlight gently fell onto the room as he looked around. He didn't get past the foot of the bed though. Lying on his feet was an exhausted Rukia.

_She's obviously worried about me_, thought Ichigo. He was tempted to leave her like this, he truthfully didn't mind it. He thought she was cute the way she laid curled up at the end of the bed, grabbing onto Ichigo's feet like they were a small hugging pillow. She was on top of the sheets and slept peacefully in the moonlight. Ichigo didn't want to wake her but unfortunately he couldn't feel his legs.

Gently Ichigo picked up the sleeping midget trying not to wake her. He picked her up by her shoulders and softly lifted her up off of his legs. He slowly and carefully moved her just a little so that she would still be on the bed next to him, but free of her grip on his legs. Then Rukia's robe ripped, Ichigo lost his grip, and she bounced off the bed before landing face first on the floor.

_Shit_, thought Ichigo as Rukia immediately woke up. The air was immediately filled with mild profanities as Rukia tried to make sense of the situation.

"What the hell was that for?" she asked as she rubbed her nose (which had been the first to hit the floor). "That was mean! I could have broken my nose!"

"Sorry, it was an accident," said Ichigo in a compassionate tone as he moved to a sitting position on the bed. Rukia stood up and calmed down when she realized she was talking to Ichigo. A small blush crossed her head as she gazed into his eyes. Quickly Ichigo changed the subject before he could develop a matching blush. "Where am I anyways?"

"You're in a guest room at the Kuchiki manor. Captain Urahara dropped you off at the beginning of the night," Rukia answered as she sat down next to Ichigo. "The entire Gotei 13 has been scouring Hueco Mundo for you and I guess captain Urahara found you."

"Hey Rukia," said Ichigo as he looked around the room. Asides from the bed, it was a very small room. Only a bed and a desk decorated the floor but numerous picture frames sat on the desk and the walls. He shifted his vision from picture to picture as he recognized some of the pictures. Some had Ichigo and Rukia in the frames, others had his friends, and still more had people that Ichigo did not recognize. "Do you know what happened to Karin after I disappeared?"

_Why would he ask something like that?_ Thought Rukia stared at Ichigo with a puzzled look in her eyes. She contemplated the question for a few seconds before she finally opened her mouth.

* * *

"After you left your family she swore she would kill any shinigami that ever entered her life again. The Gotei 13 respected her wishes and quietly left her alone. After the war broke out and Karakura town was destroyed we sent shinigami to give all the victims a proper soul burial. We scoured the town for everyone we could find, but we never found Karin. Eventually the captains said that she had decided to reincarnate or something without the aid of shinigami. I haven't seen her since I delivered the news that you had gone."

Ichigo sat in silence as he contemplated Rukia's story. He had no clue who he could believe anymore, Soul Society would not give him the whole truth, and he could not believe Karin when she said they had relentlessly tried to kill her and that she needed her revenge. Ichigo knew in his heart that he could trust Rukia though. She would never lie or hide the truth from him.

"Why?" asked Rukia.

_She needs to know_, thought Ichigo. Rukia had loved Karin when she had first stayed at the Kurosaki home many years ago. There were too many people hiding too many secrets. Ichigo wanted no part of the charade going on. He sighed and told her about his experience in Las Noches.

"Rukia… when I was in Las Noches I met Karin…"

* * *

Ichigo finished his story with a sigh and looked to Rukia. She sat there quietly with a look of horror and sadness.

"You're kidding right?" asked Rukia as she held a deadpan and confused look on her face. There was absolutely no way in hell that the Karin she knew would be capable of a near genocidal vendetta against Soul Society. She knew Ichigo was telling the truth, not from prior knowledge but rather from the fact that Ichigo would never lie to her. A tear fell from her eye as she hugged Ichigo – she couldn't possibly kick him, it wouldn't actually do him any good.

"I wish I was, but it's the truth," sighed Ichigo as he returned the hug. "Urahara wouldn't give me an answer and now I'm not sure who is telling the truth. Frankly I'm not sure the truth even matters right now."

"I'm sorry," said Rukia as she ended her hug and fell onto the bed with her back. She stared at the ceiling as she finished her sentence. "I wish I knew what I could say to help you out."

_I wish I knew too_, Ichigo thought to himself as he said nothing. Rukia truly didn't know the pain in his heart, but she was trying to comfort him. He fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling with Rukia. _At least she's not kicking me._

"It doesn't matter," said Ichigo as he stared at the ceiling with his head full of questions. "I know one thing that always helps me out though."

"What are you talking about?"

"You Rukia," said Ichigo as he put his hands beneath his head. "No matter what happens to me, I know you'll pull me out of my sadness and confusion. Whatever you do it works, even when it's just being around you. I probably wouldn't be here today without you."

Rukia thought about the words that Ichigo had spoken and how they affected her too. She remembered the first time they had met and how she had given him her powers. She remembered Ichigo desperately trying to stop her brother from taking her back to Soul Society and how hard he had fought for her. When she had faced her execution it had been Ichigo Kurosaki, and not anyone else, that had saved her. Ichigo had done so much for her and changed her life in more ways than either of them could even fathom. She had her feelings for Ichigo, but romance probably was not what the orange haired shinigami needed. That could wait.

"I'll help you find answers Ichigo. Whatever you choose to do, no one will blame you for your choice. You always make the right choice, it's just a matter of perspective."

Ichigo thought about those last words in silence as he pulled Rukia to his chest. She was warm and it felt nice to have someone that he could trust the world with lying next to him in the bed. _She always knows exactly what to say._

"…When this is all sorted out, Rukia, I want to…"

Rukia cut him off by putting her hands on his lips and closing his mouth. If Rukia did not stop him now she doubted she would be able to stop him at all. He probably knew she already loved him, even if she hadn't given him a straight answer when Renji had played matchmaker. Now was not the time for awkward confessions though. She stared at Ichigo's eyes as she quietly broke the silence.

"It can wait strawberry. Don't ruin the moment."

* * *

The four jinetes sat around a large table, one on each side. Light flooded in from the numerous lamps hanging from the ceiling. On top of the table was a scale model of the entirety of Soul Society. Several figured moved around the table as they planned their strategy. White figures representing the Gotei 13 fought against black figures representing the jinetes and their espada. Suddenly one of the jinetes picked up a rather large white figure of Kenpachi and threw it against a wall.

"Damn it you morons, how the hell could you let that prisoner kill half the espada in his escape attempt?" screamed the sole female in the group. "Do you know how hard that makes this?"

"Calm down Kiku," said Chainer as he stood up and moved a few figures around. Instantly a replacement Kenpachi figure appeared on the desk and started moving around. "We did not expect captain Phillips to try and escape after we left to capture Ichigo Kurosaki."

Kiku sat down as Veldrane stood up and tried moving a few figures. He fiddled with movements and formations for a while before he gave up and returned them to their original positions. He sighed in frustration as Kiku continued to fume. No one blamed Kiku though; they all knew how much the loss of five espada had cost them.

The jinetes had run dozens of simulations; each time they tried they failed to cause enough destruction to wipe out half of Soul Society before they were all systematically eliminated by the Gotei 13 and the captains. The loss of over half the espada had been a major setback in their plans; without them they did not have the numbers required to quickly overwhelm the Gotei 13.

"Kiku, it's not like we could have anticipated his attempted escape," said the third person as he stood up and poked the model barrier surrounding the Seireitei with a long stick. "We'll just have to make do with what we have."

"I know that Kai," said Kiku angrily. The horsemen had sworn to follow the queen to the death without question. That didn't mean that they couldn't complain about the tasks though. They were all unequalled in power but that did not mean that they could completely overwhelm the captains of the Gotei 13. Blindly rushing into a situation without planning could get them all killed and it was never worth the risk. They had learned that during their time on earth starting World War Three. There was also the wild card known as Ichigo Kurosaki, would he fight against them or let them raze Soul Society to the ground without interference?

"What if we use a few of Chainer's pets as distractions?" asked Kai as he played with a few of the figures. He snapped his fingers and a dozen black figures appeared on the map. "We could even corrupt that captain that killed all our espada. He's powerful and if we bend his will towards our goals I'm sure we can cause a significant amount of chaos for the cause. It might even be fun."

Kai moved a few figures and watched as the simulation unfolded. Rather than use a few powerful soldiers against the Gotei 13 Kai tried a numbers approach. Hundreds of extremely tiny figures flooded into the Soul Society and began to wreak havoc in the Seireitei. The four horsemen watched as slowly the black figures overwhelmed the white figures. This time the black figures had overrun nearly three fifths the Seireitei before being eliminated by the captains. They smiled as Chainer spoke up.

"It will require a lot of effort, but I think I can muster more than enough pets to do that." said Chainer as he stood up and stretched. "Besides, that simulation didn't even include that retarded captain."

"You're right, we should persuade him to join us." laughed Veldrane as he stood up and pushed his chair in and stretched his arms. "I think more simulations are pointless right now. Kai has the right idea, but we need some more details before we can be sure. Let's hammer out the details and try again"

The other two horsemen joined them as they shut down the simulator and left the room. They walked to the prison area of Las Noches. They had to plan their next moves delicately or they would never succeed in their mission given to them by the queen. If they screwed up it would be their graves, literally.

Preview:

"_If I do this wrong it will hurt a little." laughed Kai as he pulled the syringe from the captain's heart. "If I do this right it will hurt a lot."_


	10. Chapter 10  Flashback, Negative Three

**a/n: I'm trying something new with this chapter (which is why it is short). Normally I edit the everloving crap out of my chapters until I get them to fit properly. Seeing as this chapter is mostly backstory (read - filler) I'm shooting this one from the hip, meaning that after a few revisions to fix syntax and story flow I'm releasing it. Also, the epic four chapter fight that I had planned to release next chapter got lost when my Ipod had it's memory deleted. :( ****I still have the notes, but it may take a few days to get everything back. My internet got fixed though, so at least thats all sorted through. Just in time to read the crap-tacular chapter known as 424; it's so depressing (I think I prefer my story)**

**Reviews: last chapter only got 2 reviews on the chapter itself (thanks you for the other reviews!), so I'm going to assume that that means I severely broke believability with the chapter and made it pretty bad. I whipped myself a little and am going to clean up the story - starting next chapter. After this story is completed (it may take a while) I have plans for a second story off the concept with more emphasis on story - but thats the future. Several spoilericious (is that a word?) question reviews have received pm's on the subjects.**

**Also: 3 of the 4 jinetes are inspired by a certain hobby of mine - it's well known. Figure them out and you basically get a spoiler about their combat abilities. I might even write the reviewer with the first correct guess into the story line (in a minor yet pivotal moment).**

**If you like the way this chapter reads, leave a review. If you hate this chapter and want me to never try writing with this process again leave a review! Questions? leave a review! Either way, please leave a review - reviews/follows/fav fictions are what inspire me to write.**

**Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns bleach, even if chapter 424 REALLY REALLY sucks. I own nothing.**

* * *

Turn back the clock

Chainer led the jinetes down the winding corridors that made up Las Noches. The jinetes descended down the numerous pathways inside of the fortress as they made their way towards the prison area. Chainer remembered the first time they had met each other as he opened the doorway to the large prison area where he kept unruly individuals.

* * *

Ten years ago, several months after the winter war:

Las Noches had fallen into disrepair. Ever since Aizen had abandoned the fortress no one dared to call it home. Only the occasional invasions by one Captain Mayuri and his cronies interfered with the dust that slowly gathered on the surfaces of the dead palace. Only four people still lived their days inside of Las Noches – although, living would be a stretch of the term.

Deep inside of the bowels of Las Noches rested chambers that not even the mad captain had discovered, despite having explored the place from head to toe. Aizen had built several areas that would be inaccessible to anyone except him – not even the espada that held Aizen's closest trust knew all of them. Inside one of the dark chambers four stasis chambers lay in use, powered by unearthly electricity that hummed through the wires in the room. In a room large enough to support a full team of scientists, the only the four chambers decorated the surroundings. Plain concrete flooring and walls were lit brightly by depressing rectangular office lights.

Each chamber reached from the floor to the ceiling and rested roughly five feet in diameter. There was a small plexiglass door on each chamber that locked fast to hold the occupants inside. Transparent blue liquid flowed through each of the chambers as the occupants rested comfortably inside. Slowly the lights dimmed and the chambers powered down. Without Aizen to routinely maintenance the generators that kept the chambers active they would eventually fail. The lights crackled as they returned to full brightness. One by one, the chambers hissed open and unleashed their residents upon the world.

Chainer was the first to emerge. He unceremoniously crashed onto the ground with a splash as the liquid in the stasis chamber evaporated. He gasped for breath on the ground as he looked around in confusion. He felt his head and touched the remains of his mask as he tried to remember what exactly had happened. Chainer felt something at his side and reached to feel it, at his waist he found a long dagger and a ball and chain. Suddenly a second chamber hissed open.

Veldrane was the second person to be released into the world. Chainer watched as Veldrane stared around in confusion just like Chainer did. Veldrane took a breath when he felt his mask remains that made up his eye patch. Veldrane reached to his side and felt the hilt of a sword with no blade. Chainer spoke up as Veldrane made eye contact with the first man.

"What's your name?" asked Chainer as he slowly started standing up.

"I... I don't remember," said Veldrane as he racked his brain for the answer. The answer eluded him though as he slowly gave up his mental search.

"Join the club, I don't even know why we're here." replied Chainer. Then Chainer saw a small golden plaque on top of the chamber that Veldrane had previously been resting in. Chainer pointed to it as he read it out to his companion.

"Veldrane – War"

* * *

"My name is Veldrane," said the jinete as he looked at the plaque and remembered just a hint of his former life. He put his hands on his head and held it as he desperately tried to remember more. It was no use though, no matter how much he racked his mind for information it all eluded him. He took confidence when he felt that he had power.

"My plaque says Chainer – Pestilence." said Chainer as he pointed at his title that rested above the open door of the failed stasis chamber. Suddenly a third chamber cracked open and dumped its contents onto the ground. The two stared at Kai as he coughed up stasis liquid and swore at nobody in particular.

Kai had white hair that looked as though it had been styled in such a way that it permanently stood up in the front. Long sideburns framed a thin head with two blue eyes and a very active mouth that was swearing frequently. Kai's mask fragments were nowhere to be seen on his face. He was clothed in a very wet and tan sleeveless vest and a pair of nondescript pants. On his back was a staff nearly as long as he was. The staff looked like it was made of wood and curled at the top to form a semicircle with a small red bead of energy resting in midair between two points.

"What the hell am I doing here?" shouted Kai as he turned his attention to the two horsemen staring next to him. "Who the hell are you two, and more importantly who the hell am I?"

"I'm Veldrane and this is Chainer. From the plaque above your chamber your name is Kai. It also says pestilence." said Veldrane as Chainer continued to watch their newest companion. Several loud banging noises interrupted their conversation as they turned their heads in the direction that the sound had come from. There they saw the fourth failed stasis chamber. The door had jammed shut and trapped the occupant inside.

* * *

Kiku tried to scream but the liquid that filled her lungs wouldn't let her. Her chamber had failed but the door had gotten jammed before it could open. No longer able to keep her body in limbo, the fluid that had once protected her was now slowly killing her. She tried to breathe through her surroundings and absorb reiatsu that way, but the fluid interfered with the process. Kiku's vision blurred as she slowly lost consciousness.

_Unbelievable_, she thought to herself. It was truly an embarrassing way to die. Unable to breath and unable to force her way out, Kiku stopped struggling in acceptance of her fate. _I don't even know what's going on._

Suddenly there was a loud bang and the jammed door completely disappeared. The fluid surrounding Kiki rushed out and carried her with it. She landed face first in a pool of the liquid, but at least she was free from its oppressive hold on her. Limp and weak from the experience, Kiku did not move her body as she coughed up the liquid that was in her lungs and gasped for her breath in desperation.

"Are you ok Kiku?" asked Chainer, beside him stood a concerned Veldrane and Kai. Kai held his staff so that the top end pointed towards the stasis chamber. The red orb that decorated the staff let off a black smoke as its owner pulled up the staff and returned it to his back.

"I... I think so," said Kiku as she finally caught her breath. She slowly pulled herself up off the floor. Kiku slowly regained her strength as she absorbed energy from the environment around her. "Who are you guys and how do you know my name?"

"My name is Chainer, and this is Veldrane and Kai," said Chainer as Kai and Veldrane nodded and waved, respectively, at the wet female sitting on the floor. He pointed to a small black plaque above Kiku's now dismantled stasis chamber. "We all got our names from similar stasis pods and yours says Kiku."

Kiku's long black hair had begun to dry. Her pitch black kimono was still soaking wet though and it clung to her svelte frame like tape. Chainer stared at the ornate rose-like mask fragment that acted as a hair pin for the ride side of her hair. Suddenly Kiku reached her right hand into her kimono.

Kiku had felt something jabbing into her breasts and reached into her shirt. Casually she fished around inside of her kimono until she found what she was looking for. Her three companions tried to avoid staring at her rather well endowed body as she pulled out a paper fan made of steel.

"I guess this is mine," said Kiku as she opened the fan and spread it. On each side an ornate calligraphy decorated the slender metal that etched the words 'shadow' and 'death' twice on each fold. Fully expanded there were six segments in total that made up the fan.

"We need to get out of here," said Kai as he looked around the room. "None of us know why we are here, something is wrong."

The four people stared at each other cautiously. None of them knew anything other than their names and the titles that had accompanied them. They knew that they were all arrancar based off the reiatsu that they emanated, but that was about the entirety of what they knew. Still unanswered were questions regarding their existence and why none of them had any previous memories.

"There's no point in staying here," said Chainer as he broke the silence. "We might as well as figure out where we are. If we figure out who we are that would be pretty useful too."

* * *

The four companions broke away from each other as they tried to figure out where they were. Asides from the chambers there was nothing else in the room. It was as though they were sealed inside of a burial chamber.

Less than five minutes had passed before half the jinetes gave up. It appeared that there was no way out and they had given up. Kai slowly passed over the walls as Chainer dismantled his chamber in curiosity. Veldrane and Kiku merely waited in frustration as it appeared that they would be stuck in the room forever.

"Hey! Over here!"

Kai motioned to them as he dusted off a crack in the wall. The four companions gathered around the door as Kai motioned for them to step back. Still eyeing the crack he whispered something below his breath and pointed his right palm at the wall. A gentle gust of wind hit the wall and blew off the faded paint, revealing a carefully hidden door and a metal plate on the wall next to it.

Instantly Veldrane slammed his left boot heel into the door and tried to kick it open. Much to his chagrin the only thing that moved was his body as he simply bounced of the door. He tried kicking the handle again and once again made no progress. Veldrane shouted an obscenity as he backed up and then rammed his left shoulder into the door in a strong tackle. This time he heard a crack and smiled, and then he realized that it had come from his body. Veldrane winced in pain as he grabbed his left arm which contained a shattered humerus bone.

"Veldrane, stop that." said Chainer as he pulled out his dagger and used it to pry off the metal plate. Veldrane rubbed his arm and felt his high speed regeneration kick in and repair his body as he watched Chainer digging the knife into the wall just behind the plate. "There is always another way."

Chainer dug his knife around the border of the metal as he slowly popped the plate off. With a rip he pulled the plate out of the wall and dropped it onto the ground. The four stared at the hole in the wall that Chainer had opened. Resting in a small crevasse about six inches in there was a small touch computer screen and a clip board. Chainer pulled the clip board off the wall and tossed it to Kai. Kai read it aloud as Chainer searched the computer.

"Hogyoku research notes; It appears that all Vastos Lordes class hollows are subjected to memory loss and severe instability when the Hogyoku is applied. The four subjects are too valuable to be discarded like Wonderwiess. Stasis chambers have been replicated to hold the subjects until they have stabilized."

Before Kai could say another word the door slid open as Chainer grinned. Whatever the man had done, it had worked. Chainer pulled out his dagger again as he led them out of the room.

* * *

Present day:

Captain Phillips sat on the ground as he stared at the stump that was his right leg. Veldrane had ripped it off during his last escape attempt a day ago. His other leg was chained to the floor and his arms were chained to the wall. After he had nearly escaped the jinetes were taking no chances with him. Phillips had nearly escaped before being pinned down against the ground by his own shadow.

Phillips sat in the dank prison cell as he pondered how he would escape this situation. In the background he heard a door open and several people walk into the area. He heard shallow footsteps as they steadily grew louder. Within a few minutes the footsteps echoed from just outside the door. Phillips looked at the bars that made up the fourth wall and saw the four jinetes waiting as a guard opened a door.

"Captain Joseph Phillips, also known as the rising dragon, former captain of the tenth division, decorated member of the Royal Guard, and attempted assassin of the queen of Hueco Mundo." said Kai as he held a small syringe in his left hand. He led the jinetes inside the cell as the guard closed the door behind them.

"Burn in hell." cursed Phillips as he stared at his captors. "You arrancar have no sense of honor."

"Funny you should say that," said Chainer as he put his right hand on Phillip's shoulder. Phillips felt his body grow numb as it lost its color. His body slowly became a pale grayscale that had once housed color. "You won't have any honor in about thirty seconds."

"Finally decided to put me out of my fucking misery," said Phillips in a monotone as his vision faded. _I'm sorry Commander Hitsugaya, I couldn't complete the objective._

"Not quite," said Kai as he stepped next to the captain and stabbed the syringe directly into Phillips' heart. He pushed the plunger in as whatever foul liquid it held flowed into the captain's beating heart. Phillips felt an agonizing pain that burned like hell and he wanted to scream in pain, but held his tongue motionless. Phillips denied them their pleasure as he spit in Kai's face. Kai merely laughed as Phillips slowly lost consciousness from the pain of the injection and the numbness emanating from Chainer's hand.

"If I do this wrong it will hurt a little." laughed Kai as he pulled the syringe from the captain's heart. Phillips slumped over unconscious as Kai pulled out another syringe and stabbed Phillips' neck and administered whatever was in the needle. "If I did this right it will hurt a lot."


	11. Chapter 11  Shameful Metaphors

**A/N: Sorry for the slow updates! Real life and writer's block have really done a number on my ability to crank out chapters fast.**

**This chapter is 3,854 words long (not including the A/N) and I now see why people say that it is so difficult to keep going on an idea that you start. Writers block and interpretting mood and plot progression prevented this chapter from being posted for far too long. I ended up outlining and rewriting the chapter about a half dozen times. Ichigo's mood gave me the most trouble, and I'm fairly certain that I made some mistake that I can't see. **

**Ranting aside though (no one likes rants), this chapter marks the end of the plot heavy chapters - the next few will contain plenty of action. **

**The title of this chapter, Shameful Metaphors, comes from the name of a song by Chevelle. It basically means that sometimes life can make no sense. How we deal with it is what makes us who we are. At least, thats my interpretation - I don't even think Chevelle knows the meaning of that song. **

**review please! *begs***

**Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach, and Chevelle owns Shameful Metaphors. Please don't sue!**

* * *

Chapter eleven - Shameful Metaphors

Ichigo Kurosaki gently woke from his slumber. The previous night had turned his world upside down, but after a nice night's sleep (and a lovable companion next to him) he felt much calmer, though it was probably the drowsiness influencing him. His mind slowly registered his surroundings as he lay still under the warm and comfortable sheets while his eyes remained closed. The morning sunlight filtered in through a single window and Ichigo could feel the brightness in front of his closed eyes.

Ichigo sighed to himself as he shifted his position in the bed while still underneath the covers. He did not want to get up; the bed was pleasant. It offered a shelter from the cruel reality that waited outside of the room. Outside of the room lay responsibility, duty, and maturity. Ichigo wanted no part of it. He still didn't know who to believe or what to do. If it were up to him, he would have spent an eternity underneath the welcoming sheets and soft pillow. Ichigo moaned as he continued to grow more self aware. No matter how he much he fought his growing consciousness, he could not return to the peaceful and dreamlike state that he so desired to stay in.

_It's no use_, thought Ichigo as he slowly opened his eyes. Pure and sweet sunlight filled his vision as he watched several small specks of dust float lazily in the open air around him. The morning sun gazed into the room and reflected off the glass that bound the numerous pictures along the walls to their frames. It was an almost movie-like scene, completely surreal. Then he realized something important was missing. _Where's Rukia?_

Without moving his body from its original position, Ichigo scanned the room that he was in. True enough, there was no raven haired midget to be found. He was about to get up and look for her when he saw a folding door on the wall next to his bed. On the other side of the door Ichigo a very faint ruffling sound.

_There's no way in hell_, thought Ichigo as he slowly sat up and pulled the covers from his body. With the previous thoughts of staying in bed forever defeated, he slowly crept out of the bed and tiptoed to the door trying to remain as silent as possible.

Ichigo neared the door and slowed down his approach. He was about two feet away from the door when it suddenly slammed open revealing a very annoyed Rukia Kuchiki who was sitting on a shelf. He looked her in the eye as Rukia stared right back at him.

_You have to be kidding me_, Ichigo thought to himself. The two shinigami stared at each other for a while before Ichigo started laughing. "Really... a closet?"

"Shut up strawberry," said Rukia as she thumbed her nose at him. Rukia carried her evening kimono in a dignified stance as though she was above him, despite the fact that Ichigo still towered above her in height. Ichigo was too busy laughing to himself to respond with a proper answer, the scene was simply too comical. Rukia broke from her serious face and released a very slight smile. "I'm just reminiscing old times."

"Nothing like the good old days," laughed Ichigo as he smiled back at Rukia. He sat back down on the bed and sighed. Ichigo's mind remembered those times from long ago. He missed the days where he could waste the entirety of them with Chad, Orihime, and Ishida. "They were so much simpler."

"So what are you thinking about Ichigo?" asked Rukia as she moved to sit next to Ichigo. She brushed a small piece of her black hair from her eyes and waited for the answer.

"I don't know," replied Ichigo. His thoughts turned back to Karin and Soul Society as he silently questioned himself. His rest had done a wonder on his psyche, and he no longer felt like smashing something to get his answers. Even if Ichigo did have the answers, they would be useless without choosing a side. It was something that Ichigo never wanted to do. He just wanted to bring Karin home.

"As much as I want to believe Karin, I also have to believe that Soul Society is being honest. Even if they are hiding things from me, it can't be without a good reason. Even if I do get answers, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do."

"Whatever you do, you'll make the right decision." said Rukia. She moved her hands around Ichigo and hugged him. To her joy, Ichigo returned the hug with one arm. She gazed into his protective eyes and he stared right back into hers. Their heads moved closer together as they neared each other in the warmth of the moment.

Suddenly the main door slid open allowing another person entrance. Mortified, the two shinigami grew very still as they turned their attention to their sudden guest. Ichigo could feel the wrath emanating from the spiritual pressure of the person as sweat dropped from his forehead. Rukia pushed away from Ichigo and separated their interlocked bodies as they felt the anger bear down on them.

"Good morning Nii-sama." said Rukia as she broke into a nervous smile.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," said captain Byakuya Kuchiki as he turned around and began his exit, "please join the Kuchiki family at breakfast."

* * *

The Ichigo sat at a long traditional style table with the two Kuchiki, Ichigo and Rukia sat across from each other while Byakuya sat at the head of the table. They ate in silence as Ichigo quietly munched on some ancient and traditional breakfast delicacy. All Ichigo knew was that the food involved some sort of meat. He did not quite know anything else, but he knew that it would be rude of him to ask – Yuzu had always gotten mad at him when he dared to back in Karakura town. Instead, Ichigo ate in silence. Still, the tension in the atmosphere was so thick that he could cut it with a knife.

As soon as he finished the last of his meal the servants brought out another course. Ichigo stared at what appeared to be a fish as he pondered which of the six knives and forks at his disposal would be proper to use. Confused, and not wanting to insult the Elder Kuchiki, Ichigo looked up at Rukia. As if connected by an invisible thread, Rukia looked up and saw Ichigo pointing at his forks.

_Oh my god_, thought Rukia as she palmed her face. _He really doesn't have any clue about table manners_.

Rukia raised her left hand and pointed to the Ichigo's left. Then she raised her right hand and held up four fingers. Instantly Ichigo pointed to the fourth fork from the left and raised it. Rukia silently nodded her head as she pointed her left hand to Ichigo's right and raised two fingers. As is on cue, Ichigo picked up the second knife from his right. Rukia nodded her head and dropped her hands back to the fish that she had been cutting before she was interrupted. The process repeated another three times before the meal was finished.

_He could just ask_, thought Byakuya as he watched the spectacle that Ichigo was making to try and avoid being rude at the breakfast table. Ichigo was trying to be polite by avoiding asking questions, but it was quite hilarious, if not a little insulting, from the captain's point of view. Byakuya said nothing as he continued to eat his meal.

* * *

"Ichigo Kurosaki," said Byakuya Kuchiki as he stoically raised his napkin and patted down his face. "We have much to discuss."

"What would you like to talk about Byakuya?" asked Ichigo. In his heart though he knew the answer. _Karin._

"It has come to the attention of the Gotei 13 that you have been in contact with your sister." said Byakuya as Rukia and Ichigo quietly listened. "In an emergency meeting the commander has sworn the captains to silence on the issue. They know you are emotionally involved on the subject and may not choose to side with Soul Society in favor of your sister. To the Gotei 13, losing you would spell disaster."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Ichigo. The captain's statements had confused the orange-haired shinigami. Byakuya was one of the most lawful captains in the entire Gotei thirteen, for him to be breaking a vow of silence to speak was unheard of. Ichigo resisted asking the question of what this doppelganger had done with the head of the Kuchiki family.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, ten years ago I would not have told you this." said Byakuya as he looked Ichigo straight in the eyes. Ichigo could not read the captain's face, if it carried any emotion it was buried beneath duty. "You have taught me a great many things in your absence. Those who refuse to follow the rules are lower than dirt, but those that refuse to listen to their hearts are even lower than that. It would be wrong to force you to make a decision uninformed."

Ichigo remained silent as Rukia listened in on the conversation. Both of them wanted to know where Byakuya Kuchiki was going with his speech. For Ichigo, it meant answers for his questions. For Rukia, it meant help for a friend. Undeterred, Byakuya continued speaking.

"Most captains know nothing about the subject. This is why captain Kisuke Urahara could not answer you. Only the most trustworthy and ancient captains have any knowledge of the subject, and even then the knowledge is extremely limited. Soul Society does not know why or how Karin Kurosaki found herself in Hueco Mundo, or why she believes that Soul Society must be destroyed. All that I personally know is that we are currently in a death match with the grandest stakes on the line."

Ichigo let the words impact him as he said nothing. Even with that knowledge, he still did not know what he would do. Ichigo's heart was torn as he continued to wrestle the idea that one faction must fall. His sister would win and destroy Soul Society or Soul Society would win and destroy his sister. Neither option was good and neither option was preferable to the other. Ichigo silently wished for a third option as Byakuya Kuchiki paused to take a breath and then continued.

"Although I may not know anything else, captain Jushiro Ukitake does. He has asked me to inform you that he will be waiting in his manor house. Although the Gotei 13 may be sworn to secrecy, some captains believe that the truth is more important. Tell no one of this conversation, and visit him posthaste. Make your choices after you know the truth."

Byakuya finished his sentence and stood up in on fluid motion. He walked out of the room silently as Ichigo thought of the words that the captain had just spoken. The last sentence echoed in his mind as he let the comment sink in. The clouds in his soul lifted as he realized the wisdom in Byakuya's words. There was no reason to worry about the decision if he did not know the full truth. The answer was impossible to make without the full question. Ichigo smiled and stared at his raven-haired companion who sat across from him at the table.

"Well, that settles what I'm doing today," Ichigo said to Rukia as he stood up and stretched his hands. "You want to come with me?"

"Of course, you don't know where captain Ukitake lives," said Rukia as she returned the smile. Something her brother had said cheered Ichigo up. She would wait until Ichigo had his answers before she asked though. It would be wrong of her to spoil his moment. She was happy for her strawberry, something had helped him to find his resolve.

* * *

They walked to the entrance where they picked up their blades and prepared to depart. Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu and eyed the blade. The zanpokuto's white cloth knotted around the sword as Zangetsu cursed at Ichigo in his inner soul for being so lazy in caring for the blade.

"This won't do," said Ichigo as he frowned at the way the ribbon wrapped around Zangetsu. The white cloth that covered his zanpokuto was messy and haphazardly wrapped around where it tangled in a few parts. Several parts of the blade were uncovered as Ichigo surveyed the horrible job he had done when he last "sheathed" Zangetsu.

"Stand back." Ichigo said as he raised Zangetsu high above his head with one arm. He pushed a minute amount of power into the blade as he shook it ever so slightly. Reflexively, the Ribbon started shaking and loosened up.

Rukia backed away as the white cloth that covered Zangetsu spread apart and fluttered around in a tornado like way as it obstructed her vision. It danced in the air in a beautiful pattern as Ichigo controlled the way the cloth lashed out harmlessly. Rukia watched as the ribbon slowly constricted and reformed around Zangetsu, forming a more ornate wrapping pattern that neatly covered the blade evenly. Satisfied with his work, Ichigo set Zangetsu on his back.

"All right shrimp, lead the way."

Neither of them noticed the letter that had flown out from beneath Zangetsu's cloth wrapping. It lodged itself behind a small dresser against the side of a wall. Only the smallest corner was visible from its hiding spot. Its contents went unread and undelivered as the letter rested in its hidden location.

* * *

The trip to Jushiro Ukitake's residency had been extremely nondescript. They had traveled by flash steps for about thirty minutes before they arrived at his manor on the other side of the Seireitei. Jushiro Ukitake lived in a small but exquisite mansion located near the edge of the Seireitei. Rukia landed at the front gate of the manor and Ichigo landed next to her.

"We're here." Said Rukia as she gently pushed the front gate open and led the speechless Ichigo Kurosaki inside. Ichigo's mind was too deep in thought to respond to Rukia.

Rukia led Ichigo down a small pathway lined with various bushes. The sun radiated from the center of the sky as they made their way to the entrance of the main estate. Rukia knocked on an old fashioned door and waited with Ichigo for an answer. As if on cue, the serene captain of the 13th division opened the door slightly and eyed them. Jushiro Ukitake opened the door fully and smiled as he greeted them.

"Greetings captain Ukitake," said Rukia as she bowed her head. "I brought you Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Good to see you both today," said Jushiro Ukitake as he smiled at them. He looked over the perimeter of the walls of his estate, as if watching for something. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this occasion?"

"Captain Ukitake," said Ichigo as he politely bowed to the captain. He was a little annoyed that the captain would call for him and then play dumb. He was not surprised though, based on the fact that they had all been sworn to secrecy. "I understand that you wished to have tea with us this afternoon. It is an honor to be in your presence."

"Oh yes, please come inside and we can talk," said Jushiro as he waved them inside the door. Rukia and Ichigo quietly walked through the threshold of the door. Jushiro continued surveying the barrier to his house as he smiled. "I have some nice tea that Urahara gave me. He said it reminds him of Karakura town."

With that he closed the door and spoke with his two guests. Minutes later, two figures flash stepped away from the wall. They left to tell their superiors the location of one Ichigo Kurosaki.

* * *

Ichigo found himself sitting at a small coffee table overlooking a koi pond as Ukitake spoke with Rukia. They were talking about division activities and the health of the captain. Ichigo tuned most of it out as he watched the fish swim peacefully. Then captain Ukitake spoke to Ichigo.

"I know why your here," said Jushiro as his smile broken into a very serious frown. "Please be aware that we are in a very complicated situation."

"I am aware of that," said Ichigo as he turned his attention to the captain. "It seems like everything is complicated now."

"Where would you like me to begin then?"

"The beginning."

"Very well."

* * *

There isn't much we know from the beginning. After you disappeared your father asked us to stay out of the Kurosaki family's lives. He said he was tired of soul society intruding on matters that did not affect him. Respecting his wishes as a father, the commander ordered the Gotei 13 to cease operations in Karakura town.

During world war three, Karakura town was destroyed. Every inhabitant of the city was killed in a nuclear fallout from an American missile. Immediately afterwards, commander Yamamoto felt responsibility for the city and sent the thirteenth division to give the inhabitants a proper burial. Most residents were present and moved on without struggle. Some residents, like your sister, simply disappeared without a trace. We covered it up with a reincarnation story, but commander Yamamoto felt that there was some sinister force at work.

* * *

Ichigo sipped his tea as he listened to the story. He had heard that story from Rukia, but it helped to have a second person confirm the truth. Additionally, Ukitake had gone into more detail with the aftermath. Soul Society had tried to help Karin, but they were not able to. Ichigo's mind filled with questions but he chose to remain silent. Rukia was silent as well; she was too busy listening to her captain's story to speak.

* * *

Fast forward several months. During one of the regular captains' meetings Mayuri said he had discovered an unusual energy signature coming from Hueco Mundo originating in Las Noches. Fearing a potential uprising of arrancar again, Commander Yamamoto ordered a group led by several captains and lieutenants to investigate.

What I tell you next is classified by the highest of intelligence - only three captains and the commander know the truth, or what we know of the truth. Not even the central 46 are aware of what truly happened. You must never repeat any of this to anyone.

* * *

"I understand captain Ukitake," said Ichigo as he nodded to the captain. Answers were moments away from him; in a few short minutes Ichigo would finally have the truth sorted out of this debacle that involved his sister. He still did not know what he would do though, but the decisions could come later.

Ukitake paused to sip from his tea. Ichigo read his face and saw the pain in the commander's heart. Whatever had happened afterwards must have scarred the captain. Ukitake poured himself more tea and drank deeply. Ichigo also raised his cup and drank from the tea. It did remind him of his home in Karakura town. Specifically, it was Yuzu's favorite blend of sweet yellow tea. Ichigo reminded himself to return to Karakura town and get Yuzu when it was all over. She was suffering too.

As Ukitake opened his mouth to speak again, the great barrier that isolated the Seireitei from the Rukongai cracked with energy. The three shinigami turned their attention to the sky as they watched the power ripple over the barrier like water. As quickly as it began it ended. Jushiro Ukitake stared at the sky as he put his cup down. Rukia spoke up from her position on the outskirts of the table.

"What was that?" Rukia asked. They all knew that something was wrong; the barrier had never shown stress like it had just done. The barrier only surged with energy when someone was trying to force their way through it. Before Ukitake could respond, they had their answer.

The three shinigami watched as the barrier rippled again. While the first ripples looked like waves from a pebble on a lake, these new ripples were that of a tsunami. Energy crashed over the wall of energy and shook it. The barrier hissed, screamed, and popped as it struggled to remain stable. Then it exploded into shards that fell from the sky. The shards fell for a few seconds before they evaporated in the air, never in any of their lives had the shinigami ever seen such an action.

The barrier that protected the Seireitei had been destroyed.

* * *

Within seconds thousands of garganta ripped into the sky above the Rukongai and the Seireitei. Like fire ants swarming a meal, an unfathomable amount of hollows poured from the openings and into the air. Ichigo Kurosaki had never seen so many hollows in one place. Next to him, Rukia was having trouble breathing due to the sudden change in spiritual pressure. In moments, the amount of hollows in the sky nearly blotted out the sun as they continued to pour out from the thousands of open garganta. Hellbent on destruction and chaos, the monsters flowed into Soul Society with all the force of a typhoon.

"Shit," shouted Ukitake as he quickly stood up and drew his sword. Ichigo and Rukia followed suit as the captain prepared himself. Ichigo pulled Zangetsu from his back and let the ribbon fly freely in the light breeze as he moved into an instinctive combat stance. Hollows raced towards the interior of the Seireitei as sirens began wailing in the background.

"I'm sorry Ichigo Kurosaki, but your answers must wait. We have more pressing matters to attend to."

* * *

Preview:

_Phillips rode the meteor as he steered it to the commander. Flames erupted around the stone as it hurled towards the earth and gained tremendous momentum. He knew the commander would counterattack his gamble. The stakes were too high for him not to._


	12. Chapter 12 Homecoming

**A/N: Well crap… Four month hiatus due to Real life, plot issues, lack of motivation, and League of Legends. One of the ads on fanfiction gave me a keylogger on my main computer and I kinda stopped coming here for a bit (chrome + adblock now). I'm not gonna lie though; I had this chapter about 60% done on my laptop when my friends got me to start playing reason four. That was three months ago and I sat on this for about a month. *pitchforked* OW :(**

**Much to my chagrin though, someone that read the story recognized my in game handle from fanfiction with league of legends. "The Silverhand" got me my motivation back - and counterjungled me like a boss - so send him the flowers (or letterbombs if you hate my story). This chapter is a lot longer than the other ones for the reason that it's been so long. The next chapter is probably going to take a while though.**

**Oh, and the jinetes are based off MTG cards. Chainer, Veldrane, Kiku. Kai isn't though; he's the currently fleet leader of Star Trek Online – The Spanish Inquisition. I put him there after I quit the game. He's a very nice guy, and funny too.**

******Re-upload and replaced the authors note that was previously here. edit 2: fixed some linebreak errors :(**  


**Standard disclaimers apply. Read, review, and blackmail me into releasing new chapters faster.**

* * *

Chapter 12 - homecoming

Hollows streamed down from the gargantas in seemingly unending numbers. They poured into the sky of the Seireitei with an infernal desire for just one thing, carnage. Their essence was all the same, pure unrelenting malice towards the living, or more accurately - not entirely dead. The raw reiatsu that bled from them contained all the force of a tidal wave crashing against the shore, overwhelming the senses as it pressed on ahead of the hosts.

* * *

Captain Jushiro Ukitake flared his reiatsu to provide Rukia and Ichigo shelter from the force as it radiated out from them. He held his hand to his forehead, as if to shelter his eyes from the sun, and stared deeply into the descending hollows. He carefully ran the situation through his mind in silence as the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. With such a large force, clearly not for talking, a single mistake would cost a shinigami his or her life.

"Do you see them Ichigo?" asked Ukitake, "This is their intention. It is nothing short of complete and total annihilation of Soul Society."

"I see that." said Ichigo Kurosaki as he grabbed Rukia's shoulder with his left hand to support her. His trademark scowl hid a racing mind, full of both questions and bloodlust towards the invaders. In his right hand he held Zangetsu angled towards the ground. The tip of the zanpokuto barely sliced into the dirt below him and the ribbon flowed freely.

"Is it just me or do they all look similar? They're like that arrancar Rudibon that I killed ten years ago." asked Rukia as she continued to struggle to keep herself steady. She had felt intense reiatsu auras before, Ichigo's was particularly strong, but she had never felt one that leaked such ominous feelings of dread. Even more sinister, the force felt as though it shared the same reiatsu signature, as though it was one large creature and not several hundred thousand smaller ones.

"You'd be right about that." said a voice from behind them. Startled, the trio swiveled around to find the person that the voice belonged to.

* * *

The hollows continued to descend to the ground, the first men out of the garganta beginning to land in the cities below. They were dressed all in black European style armor with red capes and hoods that covered and obscured their faces. At their sides they carried katanas wrapped in black cloth. The metal reflected the darkened sky in a sickly radiance as the moved without a word.

The first shinigami and spirits to meet them were ruthlessly cut down without mercy. The hollows moved with a horrifying elegance as they formed rank and marched, destroying anyone foolish enough to get in their way.

They silently marched towards the interior of the city with a frightening pace, easily overwhelming any opposition. The hollows knew their purpose; they were to destroy everyone, no... Everything, in Soul Society.

* * *

The trio of shinigami turned their gazes from the hollows to behind them. Ukitake and Ichigo raised their zanpokutos reflexively on defensive positions, as if expecting a sudden attack. No attack came however as they stared down their guest

"Don't look at me like you don't remember me Ichigo," said Chainer as he bowed deeply to the shinigami, "I find it a little discouraging that you could have forgotten me so soon."

"Ichigo, who is this man?" asked captain Jushiro as he continued to hold his zanpokuto, Sogyo no Kotowari, in its sealed state. He stared down the home invader as Chainer pulled up from his bow.

Chainer was dressed just as he was before, his black and gold minimalistic clothing and armor covered and revealed his medium frame and intense muscles. His weapons were hooked to his belt and his mask rested peacefully above his eyes. He was calm and graceful, but beneath the surface he was a deadly serpent waiting to strike.

"I remember him, Chainer - the first jinete, pestilence. Tell me why you're here." said Ichigo. As he continued to hold Zangetsu in his hand, the white ribbon flowing freely besides him.

"I guess I should tell you. You deserve that much." laughed Chainer as he pulled his long dagger and his ball and chain from his belt. "The queen wants for the Jinetes to destroy soul society. So we've rallied an army fit for a queen."

In his left hand he held his dagger in a reverse grip, with the blade facing him and the handle extended towards the shinigami. The metallic edges glimmered vaguely in the sunlight that had once again begun to filter through the sky. In his right hand he held the spiked ball and coiled chain that connected it to his belt.

"I can see that you clearly wish to talk before fighting," said Jushiro Ukitake. The captain smiled at Chainer as he shifted the defensive position of his still sealed zanpokuto. _We may talk, but I sense great danger in his presence. He is hiding something._

"Yes... Let's talk." replied Chainer. The jinete lowered his weapon slightly and the captain followed suit. Ichigo held his right hand on Zangetsu while Rukia stood behind him to his right, using her sword for support.

"This is but one small portion of my power, domination and corruption. Each soldier you see around you is but an infinitesimally small segment of my will. Like locusts, they will consume everything and leave nothing. Well, everything that I deem worthy of consumption. The rest just gets burned to the ground and scattered to the winds."

* * *

Commander Hitsugaya gazed into the sky above the Seireitei from his desk. From behind a large and intricate glass wall the commander watched as the hollows descended. The glass wall gave him enough vision to properly gauge the size of the invasion.

Soul Society had been invaded before, but never on such a grand scale. Instantly he knew the course of action that he must take. Hitsugaya reached into his drawer and fished around while he watched the gargantas close. The tunnels had finally ended, but they had released what appeared to be a hundred thousand of the monsters before they stopped.

Hitsugaya stood up and raised a pen to his arm, scribbling an intricate pattern of runes as he drew silently. Then he sent his message to every shinigami in the realm.

"Rally yourselves and force the enemy from Soul Society. This shall be our finest hour."

With that he grabbed Hyorinmaru from the side of the desk and leapt through the window, ready to rally his own squad and repel the assault. As he flew through the sky he saw flames being to erupt from a southwestern quadrant of the city, halfway between the western and southern gates. Black flames licked upwards towards the sky and then barreled back down in quick bursts. Hitsugaya found his rally point.

* * *

Captain Ukitake and Rukia turned their heads to receive the message from his commander. They understood the commitment from the commander's stern voice; they understood the grave seriousness from the presence of a jinete next to them.

It was exactly at that moment that Chainer struck. Distracted by the message and unable to read Chainer's reiatsu due to the overbearing reiatsu from the hollows, the targets were unable to see it coming.

With lightning speed Chainer flung the ball and chain from his arm. It moved with all the speed of a split atom, easily clearing the moderate distance between the shinigami in a fraction of a second. Neither captain Ukitake nor Rukia reacted to the missile as it headed towards them. Only Ichigo saw the spiked ball careen through the air towards the victim.

Ichigo raised his blade with all his speed and tried to deflect the incoming attack. He swung his sword upward and to the right, desperate to close the distance between his zanpokuto and the ball. Time stood still as he barely nicked the trailing edge of the ball with Zangetsu.

Ichigo prayed that it would barely enough to save the life of Captain Ukitake. The ball continued on its way though, smashing into the top of the captain's head before ricocheting upwards into the sky.

* * *

Hitsugaya had leapt into the fray after sending the message, but the entire city was the battlefield. The Seireitei was quickly becoming a massive disaster zone as the flames kept from building to building and the hollow army rampaged through the city. The flames kept growing as they spread from building to building and person to person, consuming everything in their path. The longer the Gotai 13 let the chaos spread, the more damage they would have to repair. Time was of the essence.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens! Hyorinmaru!"

Hitsugaya's blade extended slightly as Hitsugaya released it. He gripped the edge of the chain that extended from the zanpokuto's handle with his left hand as he swung the blade with his right. Ice spread from the blade and formed a solid barrier to block the flames. Fire crashed with the ice before fading away. The elemental adversary of the flame beat it back, if only temporarily. Hitsugaya swung Hyorinmaru in the other direction and created a similar barrier of ice to contain the flames.

Suddenly Hitsugaya shunpo'd backwards and raised his blade. He moved Hyorinmaru upwards to the right and destroyed a pair of flaming hatchets that flew towards his head. Fire met ice as the blades exploded in a shower of steam.

"Who are you?" shouted commander Hitsugaya as he pulled back his sword to block whatever attack his ambusher would send at him next. "Name yourself unless you wish to die as a coward!"

Suddenly a flash of red appeared in front of him as Hitsugaya slashed towards it on reflex. Hyorinmaru created ice in its wake to block four lava spikes that traveled towards Toshiro's head. A large sonic boom hit Hitsugaya, who grimaced at the impact and heat of the blow.

Toshiro felt something stop his blade and he pulled back instinctively. The ice that Hyorinmaru created melted away in time for Hitsugaya to see a large flaming claymore swinging towards his head. He pulled his hands apart and used the chain to stop the attack. The claymore stopped against the chain and Hitsugaya got a good look at his attacker's face.

It was captain Joseph Phillips. He had mask fragments along his eyebrows.

* * *

Captain Kenpachi Zarakai held his nameless blade in his right arm as he mercilessly swung it at the invading hollows. In less than five minutes he had slaughtered his way into a triple digit kill count; though, he wasn't one to keep track. His division barracks had been the closest to the outer wall, and as a result he had been the first to the fight.

Truthfully though, he was quickly growing bored. The nameless, identical, hollow army was clearly no match for the sheer power of his blows. His zanpokuto continued cleaving a swath of decimation regardless of how bored he was though, the captain had received orders from the commander to drive them all from the whole of soul society.

"Such weaklings!" shouted Kenpachi as he drove his sword through the neck of his one hundredth and seventy third victim. "Is this the great threat that everyone was worried about? Fucking bullshit!"

As if on cue, a large explosion erupted in a small building next to him. Shards of wood and plaster flew into the sky as Kenpachi turned his attention to the scene. He stood still and eyed the explosion, as it clearly confused him. His only movement for the next ten seconds was to angle his blade so that his one hundredth and seventy fourth victim impaled itself on the razor sharp edge.

Kenpachi continued to stare at the building as a muscular man pulled himself out of the wreckage. On his back he carried a massive longsword that went well with his toned body. He brushed he dust off his shoulders as he eyed Kenpachi nervously.

Suddenly, without a word said between them, the captain and the man jumped at each other with their swords drawn. The second jinete had arrived.

* * *

Shards of Ukitake's skull splintered off under the weight of the impact. Pain barely had time to register as the captain collapsed under the attack. Blood bled profusely from the open skull of the captain as he went limp in a fraction of a second. Next to him Rukia turned to see the captain fall. Shock and horror registered on her face as she instantly realized what had happened. Time nearly stood still as she watched in horror.

Jushiro Ukitake's zanpokuto shattered as he hit the ground with a sickening thud. He couldn't hear his subordinate's fearful screams as she pulled herself from Ichigo's left hand and desperately tried to put a healing kido on him. Adrenaline kept him conscious long enough to see Rukia's tearful face next to him.

_I've made a terrible mistake in underestimating him,_ Ukitake thought in his last moments. His eyes rolled back into his head as he lay motionless on his side. His body quickly grew cold as Rukia continued to try and save her captain's life. The last thing he felt was an overwhelming reiatsu gush over him then fade away.

Ichigo had released his Bankai.

* * *

"How shameful, you have already forgotten about me," shouted the former captain as he readied for another attack. His hair had disappeared and been replaced with a fiendish flame that flowed freely around his head, behaving like hair despite being fire. "You sent me to my death without a thought of telling me the truth."

"You accepted the job willingly!" shouted Hitsugaya as he didn't wait for the next attack. Instead he threw the chain at Phillip's sword where it passed the flaming weapon and twisted using the momentum. The as the chain locked around the claymore Hitsugaya pulled, forcing the greatsword to move down and opened the espada up for an attack. Hyorinmaru slashed horizontally from Hitsugaya's right towards Phillips.

To Hitsugaya's surprise Phillip's pulled his left hand from the blade and moved it towards the commander's zanpokuto. As he moved his hand a flame erupted from his fingers and quickly formed into a large hand axe before solidifying and blocking the incoming blade. Phillips pulled his right hand from the claymore and the blade disintegrated into a small fire before evaporative away completely without touching the ground. Hitsugaya pulled the chain back as he flash stepped backwards to gain some breathing room. The captain-turned-espada was radiating a tremendous heat from his body.

"I accepted the job because you told me it was a rescue operation. I didn't accept it to kill a child and destroy the universe." shouted Phillips as he let go of the hand axe and let it disintegrate. "They have enlightened me, given me power to right my wrongs, and they allow me to vengeance against you monsters."

"So you sacrificed your soul to gain power." said Hitsugaya as he flash stepped towards the fallen captain. Joseph quickly formed a pair of fiery hatchets as he swung them at the spot where Hitsugaya appeared. Hitsugaya pointed his left hand at the hatchets and a thin wall of ice appeared and blocked the blades. Using his momentum Hitsugaya effortlessly passed through the wall as though it was nothing and slashed into Phillip's chest where he drew blood. "I shall be the blade to purify you."

Phillips jumped backwards to minimize the effect of the blow. As he landed the wound sealed up as his high speed regeneration kicked in. Without wasting a moment he pulled his right hand back as though he was preparing to pitch a baseball, except that his hand was open. Flames sprouted from each of his fingers as he moved his hand in a sidearm motion aiming them towards the captain.

"Descarga de Lava!"

As Phillips moved his hand towards the captain four spikes of lava ripped from the ground, cutting razor thin lines in the ground as the raced towards Toshiro Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya slashed into the ground and created another wall of ice to nullify the attack. The lava spikes crashed onto the barrier and exploded, throwing up an incredible amount of steam.

"I have not sacrificed my soul," said the primero espada as he readied himself for another attack, "Los Jinetes Del Apocolypsis have purified me, not you. I will raze the realm for their… my… queen."

By now the surroundings were a massive blaze as fire destroyed the walls and buildings that surrounded them. Hitsugaya's icy barrier was containing the flames inside the barriers, but the flames still consumed everything inside the barriers. Phillips had been torching the surroundings prior to the fight and the arena was quickly becoming hostile to the commander. The surroundings were simply too hot, the water was evaporating away far too quickly for him to use it effectively.

The commander jumped to the sky hoping that his opponent would follow him. Around him the hollows still in the air split away and gave the commander a wide berth. The cooler air rushed past his face as he cleared the smoke line and continued upwards where the water vapor in the air was still plentiful. It was a place where he would have the advantage.

Phillips knew it was a trap. He was confident in his ability to overcome the commander though; Chainer had given him more than enough power to finish off the teenage bastard. The espada leapt into the air to rejoin the fight. He left behind his earthen treasures and ascended. The commander would have no clue about the espada's next action.

* * *

Captain Urahara sat in on the veranda of his division headquarters. He sat in a comfy chair next to a coffee table while he watched the sky. Captain Commander Hitsugaya was fighting someone he had long thought dead and it was providing ample entertainment. His tea was not quite finished yet, and he hated to fight before his tea was finished. Invasion or not, he was thirsty.

"Third seat Nemu!" said Urahara lightly between sips. On queue his third seat appeared with a hot tea kettle in her right arm and a towel draped around her left arm.

"Yes captain?" said the third seat, "more tea?"

"Yes please," smiled the captain. "Pour some for our visitor too."

"Would the jinete prefer green or lemongrass tea?" asked Nemu without expression. She stared at the edge of the veranda and waited for an answer.

"Green please," said Kai as he rose above the edge slowly. At his feet orange pulses of energy propelled him upwards. His staff was glowing in his right hand as he held it behind his back. His left hand grabbed the edge of the veranda fence and he hopped to the ground, feat away from Kisuke Urahara.

They smiled at each other. One with a sinister, destruction bound and depraved smile of a slaughterer. One with a sinister, unreadable mind and smile of a scientist. Sadly, the description fit both of them like a glove.

Kai conjured a chair out of thin air and set it next to the coffee table where Urahara sat. Nemu moved to hand him his tea and Kai thanked her for it. The third jinete stared at it for a fraction of a second before returning his eyesight to the captain that sat next to him.

"You know we have to fight..." said Kai.

"Yes, but first tea."

"Cheers."

* * *

Hitsugaya was pleased. He had managed to pull Phillips off the ground, where the espada had the advantage. In the air Hitsugaya had the advantage. He hadn't counted on not having enough time to recover from his ascent though. His opponent was on top of him before he could capitalize on the terrain shift.

Phillips had used sonido to push himself higher than the commander. He had pushed himself exceptionally higher where he used the element of surprise to his advantage. He held his hands together and pointed them at the commander, a large rock formed in his hands as he continued to ascend. The rock continued to grow as he slowly stopped ascending, slowed by gravity on the rock that grew in his hands. By the time he had finished his ascent he was nearly a mile above the commander and had a rock that weighed nearly thirteen tons in his hands. He shouted the name of his attack as he rode it down.

"Meteoro de Shiv!"

* * *

Shinigami and hollows crossed blades at every intersection in the crowded streets of the Seireitei. While the first shinigami had been cut down without a fight, the rallied shinigami were forcing the invading force to slow to a crawl as the tidal wave met fierce resistance in the entrenched cliffs.

"Stop them from going any further!" screamed captain Shunsui Kyoraku as he brandished his blades in the air. "For the pride of Soul Society!"

Motivated by his rally cry, the shinigami of the eighth division charged the incoming hollow forces. Elsewhere across the Seireitei other captains and lieutenants released similar speeches as they led the shinigami in the streets. Shunsui watched the sky and saw Hitsugaya in mid air with what appeared to be the former captain and royal guardsman Joseph Phillips. He wanted to join the commander but he knew his place. There was nothing he could do about the massive rock careening towards the ground at a frightening speed.

A shadow jumped from the ground to Shunsui in the chaos. Instantly he pulled upwards away from it and slashed at it with his blades. With a hideous shriek the shadow erupted into flames as the captain's zanpokuto pierced it.

Suddenly thirty more shadows surged towards him and enveloped him in darkness.

* * *

Hitsugaya saw and felt the espada's reiatsu as he watched the man ascend. He saw the rock that Phillips was forming as he continued to climb and immediately realized what the man was planning. If Hitsugaya was hit with the attack he would be killed, but if he evaded it over half the Seireitei would be obliterated by the force of impact. He only had one choice, though the collateral effect of destroying part of the invading forces was not lost in his mind.

"Bankai!"

Ice sprouted from the commander as fifteen icy flowers formed behind him. Giant wings of ice sprouted from his back and reinforced his body. Hitsugaya only had one chance to get this right, if he botched his next moments he would be incinerated.

Phillips rode the meteor as he steered it to the commander. Flames erupted around the stone as Gravity and the espada propelled it towards the earth and the stone gained tremendous momentum. He knew the commander would counterattack his gamble. The stakes were too high for him not to. Chainer had commanded him to weave great destruction, who cared if a few dozen (hundred) hollows would be incinerated in the blast.

Hitsugaya held his blade below him as ice appeared in the atmosphere around him. The meteor was closing in on him rapidly and picking up speed.

_One thousand feet..._

_Eight hundred feet..._

_Five hundred feet..._

_Now!_

Hitsugaya slashes upwards with Diaguren Hyorinmaru. Ice cascaded towards the meteor as the two forces clashed with a titanic impact. The weight of the meteor forced Hitsugaya downward as he continued to force his power into his blade. Ice ate away at the meteor as flames and steam licked off the stone. Three of his ice flowers had shattered instantly under the pressure of the attack.

The meteor continued to fall towards the earth with the commander below it. It slowed and began to erode away as the flowers behind the commander shattered one at a time. It grew dangerously close to the ground as it carried it's momentum despite the commander's best efforts. It was less than a hundred feet from the ground when it slowed to a stop. The rock had eroded away until it had become a giant boulder. One of Hitsugaya's flowers remained as he began to sweat blood. He pulled his blade from the stone and jumped backwards, letting it fall harmlessly to the earth.

Then Phillips appeared behind him and stabbed Toshiro in the back with a flaming spear. The espada pulled upwards and ripped the spear through the commander's head. As the spear moved upwards the espada saw the Bankai shatter and Hitsugaya's brains explode in a beautiful display of ice, flame, and gore.

Phillips laughed as he pulled away from the dead commander. He was exhausted; he had put so much effort into the meteor that it drained him. Still, the espada had finally killed the head of the Gotei 13; surely the jinete's would promote him into their ranks to serve the queen and right his wrongs.

Slowly he noticed the corpse melt away into water and steam. Seconds later Phillips felt a massive wave of ice crash into his back as he was sent flying. Realization of his mistake coursed through his head as he heated his back and stopped the ice from carrying him any further. Phillips cursed at the commander as he turned around to face Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"Fuck you and your god damn ice clones!" screamed Phillips as he got a good look at the commander. Anger coursed through him when he noticed that the commander was completely unhurt. Phillips couldn't even count the amount of flowers that were behind the commander.

"Give up Phillips," said Hitsugaya as he held his sword in a position ready to strike, "your trump card has lost and you can barely stand. Hueco Mundo will not be victorious today but there is still time for you to repent your actions."

"Fuck you!" screamed Phillips as he put his hands to his head and lit off flames. The flame incinerated his head and coursed over his body as Hitsugaya heard the espada's next words.

"Dia de Los Dragones!"

* * *

Rukia dropped her healing kido when she felt the shockwave of reiatsu. She recognized it instantly as Ichigo's signature, but she had never felt so much of it at once. Compared to Ichigo's 'normal' levels of reiatsu, this surge was an exponential gain in power. Raw energy pulsed over her as she turned her head to Ichigo. She had trouble breathing again, Ichigo's reiatsu surged through every fiber of her body. She heard, felt, tasted, and smelled his reiatsu as it erupted off his body with the force of a nuclear explosion. If Ichigo was a perfume, she had been dipped in a vat of it.

From beside her fallen captain's body, Rukia saw everything. Ichigo's reiatsu released a black cloud that surrounded him and shielded him from the nearby area, Rukia was fortunate enough to be at the very edge of the cloud - the proverbial eye of the storm.

Ichigo's black robes elongated and frayed at the edges. His messy orange hair grew another two inches and barely stood on end. What scared Rukia the most though, was Tensa Zangetsu.

In one fluid motion the blade transformed. Black energy pulsed over the blade as it slowly elongated and shrank. The handle bulged in Ichigo's hand as the cloth ribbon stained itself black and molded itself into the grip that its owner held. Four small bolts of energy ripped from where the grip met the blade to form an ornate hand guard. Finally, the familiar black chains that decorated Tensa Zangetsu quickly formed, one after another.

Rukia had never seen this version of Tensa Zangetsu, and it scared her. This version of the blade was longer than the Zangetsu she remembered. Additionally, the hand guard was a different pattern, rather than an ornate rectangle the hand guard closely resembled four prongs that did not connect to each other except at the base. Rukia stared in awe at the way the chain was forming.

Each link formed individually, burning brightly black as it formed. They did not simply free fall in the gravity though. Each one wrapped around Ichigo's right arm and burned off a small portion of his sleeve before locking into his body. The chain slowly climbed his arm, spiraling upwards towards his shoulder.

With each chain though, she felt Ichigo's reiatsu drop. From the exponential surge that she had felt less than a minute ago, the power level quickly dropped. She still tasted the reiatsu on her tongue, pure unadulterated power. Ichigo's reiatsu echoed in her bones and gave hints of courage to her. From Ichigo though, she felt nothing. As the surge died away, the black clouds surrounding the shinigami began to fade away.

The dusty storm had faded away by the time the chain stopped forming. Rukia could not feel any of Ichigo's reiatsu at all; all she felt was the monstrous reiatsu from the army around her. Despite him being so close, Rukia felt as though he had disappeared from her again. Just like he had disappeared from her ten years ago.

With his familiar and comforting reiatsu gone, she resumed her panic. She had felt the power of Ichigo's reiatsu, but now it was gone. Her captain was dead, her Ichigo's aura had disappeared, and there was an apocalyptical army rampaging throughout the Seireitei hell-bent on destruction. Only the faint trace of Ichigo's reiatsu in her body calmed her and kept her from passing out in fright. The day just could not get worse.

She could not have been more wrong.

* * *

Chapter 13 preview:

_Rukia watched as the jinete was engulfed in a black pillar of energy, similar to Ichigo's trademark getsuga tenshos but far more sinister. The pillar raced towards the sky in a seemingly unending rampage. The energy carved a hole in the heavens as she watched the jinete at the top of the wave. She could tell he was in serious pain._

_Suddenly her mind turned to Ichigo, to think that he wielded such power. She knew that he had defeated Aizen and was one of the, if not the, most powerful shinigami alive. The problem was that it had just never registered to her exactly how powerful Ichigo was._


	13. Chapter 13 IHCTOAT

**A/N: Short Author's Note, don't really have much to say other than the fact that I'm debating pulling the author's notes and consolidating them into one chapter. Chapter 13 was hard to write because there was a lot going on in the story (I need to get a beta reader _). Also, no preview - having trouble getting microsoft word to actually safe my drafts. The plot also takes a drastic swing in seriousness next chapter, you have been warned. Oh, and there are several mtg references in the chapter, see if you can count them all!**

**IHCTOAT (pronounced Ick-Tote) - because sometimes you can't figure out something witty.**

**Finally, YES I am aware that Ichigo's power level is a little on the broken side. It's supposed to be that way. If you think it's a little stupid now you might not like the next chapter... I'll just leave it at that. Cop-out? Maybe **

**Standard Disclaimers apply, I own nothing (though I wish I did)**

* * *

Chapter thirteen - I Honestly Couldn't Think of a Title.

Commander Hitsugaya watched as the primero espada was consumed in his own flame. Slowly the flame changed shape as it consumed the entirety of the arrancar. The flame grew large and continued to burn after it had consumed his body. Hitsugaya watched as the flame began to shape into something big. Suddenly the flames exploded in a wave of flame that forced Hitsugaya to raise an ice shield around himself to keep the flames from incinerating him.

Hitsugaya reinforced the barrier as flames licked around him. The fires crashed over the shield for almost a minute before they faded. Through the translucent barrier Hitsugaya saw a terrifying sight. A giant, mythical dragon flew on two great wings as it circled the sky. Red scales radiated the light of the flames that had erupted from it. Two giant wings flapped effortlessly as it lazily hovered in the air. Long front and hind legs tucked into its body to give it the illusion of a winged snake. Two horns lined the reptilian head and a large spiked tail nearly doubled the length of the beast.

Phillips himself took a minute to get used to his new form. He had been given this power by one of the jinetes and he wanted to use it to the fullest of its extent. His release had unleashed a terrifying amount of fire that had cascaded outwards from him, radiating in all direction. Hitsugaya may have been beating him around with Diaguren Hyorinmaru, but his release gave him power beyond his wildest dream. The fallen captain's fatigue was gone and he reveled in his power. Thought of tearing Hitsugaya limb from limb circulated his demonic mind. He had seen the commander taking shelter through the flames of his transformation. He decided his plan and went wild.

In a fell swoop, Phillips descended from the air and dived to the ground. Hitsugaya watched as the espada abruptly pulled up moments before he crashed into the ground. The dragon quickly flew low to the ground, narrowly avoiding the roofs of buildings and casting its infernal shadow above the fighting shinigami and hollow armies. To the commander's horror the dragon known as Phillips opened his mouth.

* * *

Phillips had hoped the commander would have intercepted him before he was able to pull up from the dive. He had only meant for it to be a ruse to draw him into a bad position, but Hitsugaya had not taken the bait. Instead of facing the commander in a favorable position, Phillips settled for his current actions. The primero espada pulled from his lungs as he flew low to the ground. In a fluid motion he opened his mouth and spit a hellish stream of fire, instantly burning anything the flames touched to ashes.

Phillips continued to breathe fire as he strafed the Seireitei. He watched as the helpless shinigami fled from his fire, only to be torched to death instantly. The hollows embraced the flames and did not make any attempt to evade the fires. His victims did not have time to feel pain though, his hellish flames killed on touch. Suddenly he stopped breathing fire as he twisted his body around and pulled a barrel roll to the right in a split second.

Phillips dodged as a tremendously large shard of ice, nearly as large as him, crashed into the area that he had previously occupied. Phillips continued to roll in the air as he flung his tail around and lashed out where he sensed that the attack had come from. Phillips landed his attack on the mark as his spiked tail crashed into commander Hitsugaya and sent him flying upwards into the air.

* * *

Ichigo held Tensa Zangetsu parallel to the ground in front of Rukia, as though to protect her from harm. The young shinigami did not have to look backwards, though, to tell that she was panicking. Her captain was dead and lying beside her, and his own reiatsu signature had died out, completely withheld inside of him and his blade. Rukia sat on her knees with her hands at her sides, being exposed to Ichigo's Transformation had left her even more emotionally and physically shot than she ever remembered.

"It will be all right Rukia, I will not let harm come to you." Ichigo said as he stood steady. "I will end this quickly."

Chainer gave him a very nonchalant look as the man continued to hold his long dagger and ball and chain in his hands. Chainer cocked his head, as though he was growing tired of waiting; after all, he had just effortlessly killed a captain. He had heard Ichigo talking about ending it quickly, but he highly doubted it was anything more than a bluff. Ichigo would likely flail around a lot and the fight would probably take about half an hour to beat. Sure Ichigo was strong - Chainer was a jinete for a reason.

Ichigo turned his head to Rukia for a fraction of a second and they locked eyes. He shot her the purest and most sincere smile from the corner of his face and returned his attention to the waiting jinete. He breathed heavily and let out a deep sigh before closing his eyes. Ichigo slowly reopened his eyes and stared at Chainer, the boy's smile disappearing into his trademark scowl as he held his blade parallel to the ground. Then the boy became a blur.

The jinete saw most of the blur, but it was still a blur.

* * *

Hitsugaya had not expected for the espada to be so fast for such a large being. Nor had he expected the primero espada to counterattack so quickly. He had reasoned that the bulk would slow him down but the dragon moved as fluidly as water through a stream. He hastily raised his sword to block the armored tail as the momentum sent him flying through the air. He heard Phillips bellow as he slowed himself to a stop high above the dragon.

"I doubt you speak Spanish so I'll just say it outright," bellowed Joseph Phillips, "I am the greatest of all espada! I am the Shivan Dragon and you… You in your icy glory are nothing but an insignificant speck compared to me. With the death of the Seireitei I will gain the favor of the queen."

Hitsugaya said nothing as he raced towards the monster again. He had been caught off guard once; it was time to end this before anyone else got hurt. He raised Diaguren Hyorinmaru and summoned the full force of the zanpokuto behind him. The wings attached to his back extended greatly as the ice flowers disappeared behind him. As he closed in with the dragon he slashed out and sent multiple waves of ice towards the dragon.

Phillips responded by breathing fire into the waves of ice. Superheated steam erupted as the fire met ice and they halted each other's attack. Suddenly a small figure broke through the steam and flashed towards Phillips. Phillips batted his front feet at the commander as he felt a searing pain shoot through his limbs.

Hitsugaya had anticipated Phillips using his feet to block the attack; it was the smartest course of action. He had counted on it and was prepared to abuse it to its fullest. As he barreled towards the dragon he used a small feint attack consisting of ice to blur the dragon's vision. He then broke through the ice and held his sword at the ready. To his enjoyment, Phillips did indeed try to bat the commander away with his feet.

Hitsugaya brought Diaguren Hyorinmaru around as he slashed into the beast's feet. Waves of ice formed as they cut upwards through the dragon's left foot. With his zanpokuto still deep in Phillip's left foot he somersaulted and dragged the blade through bone and the rest of the dragon's body. Without hesitation, Hitsugaya continued his assault and arced his blade over his head and to his right, bringing the blade full circle as he slashed downwards. The ice arced above his head and continued to form as it slashed deeply into the dragon's right leg, sawing deeply into the bone before Phillips could move away.

Phillips roared in pain as he moved his wing instantly to push the commander away. His right wing pushed towards the commander in a short burst of sonido where it created a super thick pocket of air pressure. The result was a painfully powerful and loud burst of energy that sent the commander flying away. Phillips swore as high speed regeneration regrew his severed limb and repaired the deep gash in his other wounded appendage.

* * *

Ichigo thought about the wisest course of action for a fraction of a second before his attack. In the background he saw flames and ice erupting in the sky and figured that it was probably Hitsugaya locked in combat; though with whom he did not know. It could have been another jinete; Ichigo had only seen two of them. Still, Hitsugaya's opponent did not matter. What was relevant was Chainer, Rukia, and himself.

With all his might he closed the distance between the jinete and himself in a fraction of a fraction of a second. Ichigo pulled his zanpokuto upwards and to the left as he aimed for the nearly motionless jinete's head. There was no time for formalities and extended combat. People were dying, and Ichigo had a hunch that if he stopped this man he would stop the army that rampaged the Seireitei.

The first jinete barely pulled his long dagger up in time to block the blow. Chainer felt his arm nearly shatter in a dozen places as he parried the blow meant to decapitate him. The jinete felt the shockwave around him as the force continued to flow past him and wreck the surroundings. Disbelief clearly showed on Chainer's face as he rocketed backwards. Black flames licked across his body as the force of the blow sent him flying.

Chainer used sonido to ride the wave and back off the young shinigami and regain distance (and time for the instant regeneration to kick in). Unfortunately there was no point to his movement. As quickly as Chainer had backed off, Ichigo used flash steps to regain the distance. Yet again, Chainer was caught off guard due to Ichigo's higher speed. Chainer raised his dagger again to block a one handed vertical blow from the shinigami. This time the impact of the blow slashed a wound into the ground. Concrete, dirt, and grass flew into the air as Ichigo continued with his swing all the way to the ground. Chainer reflexively angled his body so that the blade would narrowly miss him, but he realized that what would come next would hurt...

A lot.

* * *

Rukia watched as Ichigo disappeared from in front of her. In her body she could still feel echoes of Ichigo's reiatsu inside of her body. The echoes of power grew in strength as Ichigo disappeared from vision and she felt the power of his reiatsu coursing through her bones. Suddenly a massive black shockwave arced horizontally from where the jinete had been standing. Electricity tingled down her spine as she watched the carnage.

The black shockwave completely leveled whatever was in its path as it screamed destruction. In one swing nearly half of Ukitake's manor had been destroyed. Suddenly a second shockwave erupted. It was a lot farther away though, and this time was angled downwards. Had Rukia not been on her knees, she probably would have fainted from the shock and power of the attacks – even though they were not angled at her.

Rukia shuddered as the electricity tingled down her spine again. It coursed down her body and back upwards before radiating into her chest and resting at the base of her neck. Instinctively she put her left hand to her neck and felt something warm, yet oddly cool to the touch. It was small and felt like a bead. She grabbed onto it with her hand and held fast to it, drawing comfort from the familiar feel. It felt like Ichigo and touching it calmed her nerves ever so slightly. In her right hand she continued to hold Sode no Shirayuki at her side.

Suddenly she shuddered again as her attention turned to the large black pillar of energy that climbed into the air. The last shockwave had been a blur, but this wave had been much clearer. She saw the details in the attack and read the power of the assault. Ichigo was not kidding when he said he would finish it quickly, for the young man was not holding back in the least.

* * *

Hitsugaya laughed as he heard the former captain swear. Hitsugaya had Phillips figured out. He sweated profusely as he raised his right hand in front of him preparing to attack. Phillips' greatest weakness was his size. The destructive power of his release was unmatched, but if Hitsugaya could keep a few steps ahead of him he would be able to get inside the espada's guard with a little planning and luck.

Phillips did not give the commander much time to formulate a plan. Immediately after the espada had finished screaming he drew in and spewed out a massive fireball aimed at the ground. The colossal fireball screamed towards the ground as helpless shinigami and hollows watched it rocket towards them.

In flash, Hitsugaya was below it, he slashed upwards and sent a dragon shaped crest of ice flying upwards at the flaming attack. The two attacks mixed and exploded together in an array of ice, water, steam, and flame. Hitsugaya didn't watch the effect as he instantly flash stepped behind the dragon.

With lightning speed Hitsugaya grabbed onto Phillip's back and slashed upwards at his right wing. Diaguren Hyorinmaru connected with the base of the massive wing and instantly froze it solid, encasing it in a large block of ice. Hitsugaya finished his swing and sliced off the wing, leaving it to fall and shatter into millions of pieces on the way down.

Phillips roared in pain as he tried to get Hitsugaya off his back. Blood gushed from his the stump where his dismembered limb formerly was as he used sonido to spin his body around. He swiveled around in multiple circles as he failed to throw the captain off of him. Suddenly he felt a surge of pain in his left wing.

Hitsugaya had barely kept hold long enough to slash at Phillips' left wing. With an identical move he cut through the other wing and let it fall to the ground below. Phillips roared as Hitsugaya smiled at his work. Suddenly the scales that Hitsugaya had been holding onto morphed into nail like structures and he was forced to jump backwards.

"Descarga de Astillas!"

Phillips roared as he sent his scales rocketing at the commander. He felt Toshiro let go after he had morphed his scales and sent them at him like flying missiles. The espada rotated his body to watch the commander deal with his latest attack. Phillips didn't need his wings to fly, but he looked significantly less majestic without them. Wings were a flesh wound, the ego bruise cut like a knife.

Hitsugaya pulled his blade up and shielded himself with ice as the shards careened towards him. Several missed him, but most of them exploded on impact with his shield. Phillips had launched twenty scales, and to his pleasure the nineteenth one shattered the barrier, allowing the twentieth to slip past the guard and impact the commander. Phillips watched as the last one made contact with the commander's left arm and exploded in a rather wicked looking scene.

* * *

Ichigo used flash steps to travel beneath the jinete. Ichigo rested in the nearly cavernous gash that his last blow had created and stared upwards at the jinete. Chained stared in surprise as Ichigo waited for him to flinch.

As if to grant his request Chainer bent his body to reduce the impact of the blow. That was went Ichigo swung Zangetsu upwards at Chainer. Chainer covered his face with his hands as he absorbed the shockwave. It felt as though pure energy was grinding away at the very atoms of his body, if he fought it he would be destroyed. Instead he rode the wave again as it carried him upwards. There was no time for him to do anything but ride the wave; Ichigo was completely in control of the fight.

* * *

Rukia watched as Chainer took the full force of the impact. She watched as the jinete was engulfed in a black pillar of energy, similar to Ichigo's trademark Getsuga Tensho but far more sinister and powerful. The pillar raced towards the sky in a seemingly unending rampage. The energy carved a hole in the heavens as she watched the jinete at the top of the wave. She could tell he was in serious pain.

Suddenly her mind turned to Ichigo, to think that he wielded such power. She knew that he had defeated Aizen and was one of the, if not the, most powerful shinigami alive. The problem was that it had just never registered to her exactly how powerful Ichigo was. Inside of Ichigo laid nearly infinite unused power and by tapping into it he was unstoppable.

As quickly as the black wave ascended, it vanished to leave the jinete dangling in mid air. She watched as Chainer floated nearly lifeless a mile in the sky, he looked so harmless so high up. Above him Ichigo quickly appeared, with Tensa Zangetsu at the ready.

Ichigo held Zangetsu above his left shoulder as he stared at the decimated jinete. Immediately after knocking Chainer into the air, Ichigo had jumped to apply he second blow of the combo. The jinete gave him a wounded look, as though Ichigo had done something horribly wrong. To Ichigo though it did not matter, he had but one course of action if he was to stop the situation from spiraling further out of control. And with that, he slashed downwards again into the chest of the exposed jinete.

Power flowed freely from Ichigo's blade. Tensa Zangetsu ripped through the air and black power dived towards the earth. Caught at the leading edge was an unfortunate jinete. The black energy ate away at the atoms of Chainer as he was caught in the brutalizing wave of energy. Chainer felt his body erode away as he quickly thought of a way to survive the attack and regain momentum in the fight.

_Phillips_…

* * *

Hitsugaya winced in pain as he felt his arm disintegrate under the blow. At the last moment he called an ice shield to protect the rest of his body from the explosion. As the explosion ended he saw that left arm had been cauterized away just below the elbow. He swore to himself about his carelessness as he resolved to end it now. Phillip's reiatsu was bleeding from him like radiation from a nuclear explosion. The dragon himself was preparing to finish the fight, so he would be forced to as well. As flames jumped from the dragon's mouth Hitsugaya found himself preparing to unleash his strongest ability - Hyoten Hyakkaso.

Phillips allowed his rage to fume momentarily before deciding to end the conflict. The commander was stunned momentarily and this was likely the largest opening he would get to finish the fight. His back ached where his scales began to grow back, but the armor he had cast away would quickly turn into a liability that he knew the commander would exploit. Though he had inflicted a grievous injury upon the captain commander he doubted he would be able to do it again. Phillips had been forced to sacrifice a part of himself to harm the commander, and the commander would no doubt be seeking to finish the conflict himself.

The wingless dragon let his anger boil inside of him. The internal heat began to rise so quickly it scorched his own monstrous lungs. Flames appeared in the irises of his eyes and steam exuded from his mouth. Though he preferred to return in relatively good condition, the reward of victory was high enough to warrant a few sacrifices. Phillips felt his power swell as he prepared to throw it away towards the captain. One searing blaze and Hitsugaya would be gone, burned away by his burning hatred.

"I have need of your power." said a voice inside of Phillip's mind. The voice was powerful and interrupted his channel.

_I am almost finished Chainer_, thought Phillips_, I will help you in a moment_.

"I have need of your power NOW."

With that word, Phillips felt the power drain from his body. All the energy invested in his attack drained from his body as he began to lose his orientation. Thoughts swirled through his mind as he slowly lost altitude and began to fall – the great beast had become so powerless that he could not even move. Chainer was draining him of all his life force without second thought to the espada's survival.

Phillips desperately tried to pull up from his slowly accelerating descent. His body refused to respond as he neared the ground. He had no doubt he would survive the landing, but Hitsugaya would kill him after he landed. Phillips would not let himself die in such disgrace; he still had his pride in his abilities. If Chainer had not rudely interrupted he would have been next to the jinete already. The bastard had ruined everything. With the barest of his will power he summoned his own fastly fading life force and immolated himself. Before he hit the ground he was ashes in the wind.

Puzzled, commander Hitsugaya dropped his technique and stared curiously at the situation.

* * *

Rukia watched as a black wave clawed from the heavens towards the earth. It raced with all the speed of a falling star as it carried its destructive payload towards the ground. She continued gripping the bead for comfort, unaware that it was growing and changing shape ever so slightly under her touch.

She watched as the blast crashed into the ground. The earth itself was uplifted as it fled the force of the blow. Rukia felt the ground shake beneath her feet as Ichigo's final slash met the ground. Dirt and sediments flew into the upper atmosphere from the impact. With all the force of a falling moon, the energy Barreled into the jinete as he was pinned between the ground and the pillar of black energy. The energy continued to claw its way into the ground as Rukia imagined the devastation the attack did to the jinete. In her mind, Chainer was most certainly not getting back up.

* * *

All around the Seireitei shinigami turned to see the destructive waves that suddenly came crashing into their home. In the span of ten seconds, four brutally powerful waves altered the landscape as the shinigami watched on. None of them were aware that there had been a victim to the blows and on the same note only Kisuke Urahara and Rukia Kuchiki knew the attacks came from Ichigo Kurosaki.

Hitsugaya sighed as he slowly floated to the ground. He had just fought an honorable man that had been corrupted to the very core, and he did not understand what had just transpired that could have suddenly defeated the man. Joseph Phillips had not been a captain for very long, but he had shown himself to be a capable leader and strong sword with an unbreakable will. Hitsugaya himself had met him when he appeared from the king's gate many years ago and declared himself a royal guardsman. Still, as he watched the black waves crashing in a distant area of the Seireitei, he could not help but wonder what could possibly have been done to the man to turn him so wildly against his foundations. If it could be done to the royal guardsman, who else could fall under that perverse and twisted fate?

* * *

Kenpachi wiped the blood from his eyes with his left hand as he stared down his opponent. This man was a challenge. This unidentified man with the claymore like weapon finally gave Kenpachi a challenge and that excited the captain. The man's hollow mask formed an eye patch that covered his right eye. His muscled chest soaked with sweat, having had the shirt and vest that previously covered it hacked away. He was not paying much attention to Kenpachi, instead his head was turned in the direction of the sudden and destructive pillars of black.

"This is not good; the situation keeps getting worse every moment they are fighting." said Kenpachi's opponent. His head was turned to the mix of fire and ice in the air as if to study it. Suddenly his hand pulled off his claymore and he lowered his blade slightly. He pointed to the pillars of black energy that had just appeared and turned to Kenpachi.

"My name is Veldrane. If that fight drags on, we may all die." Veldrane warned. He moved as if he was disinterested in continuing the fight.

"Pay attention to the fight then, Veldrane. The battle isn't over until one of us is dead on the ground." laughed Kenpachi as he breathed heavily. His eye patch had been slashed off in the initial exchange of blows. This man had been the greatest challenge he had faced in a long time. Adrenaline rushed through the berserker captain's veins as he slowly caught his breath. Fights like these made life worth living. It was part of the mantra of his squad, and everyone was prepared to give their life for the thrill of battle.

"I'm sorry captain Kenpachi," replied Veldrane, "but my comrade needs me right now. I enjoyed the fight, but I simply don't have time for this."

Suddenly Veldrane disappeared from sight in an instant burst of sonido. Kenpachi turned his body around and raised his blade to block the blow but he was not fast enough. Blood surged into the air as Veldrane stabbed his longsword upwards at Kenpachi's head. Veldrane had gone to a crouching position and stabbed upwards with his blade at Kenpachi's neck in a single finishing blow.

One foot...

Two feet...

Three feet...

At last the handguard of Veldrane's longsword reached the base of Kenpachi's neck. Like a ragdoll, Kenpachi's headless body went limp and collapsed to the flood in a pool of blood. Kenpachi's head hit the ground moments later, still carrying the shocked expression on his face. Next to him Veldrane paused for a split second to utter an apology before using sonido to move in the direction of the pillars of energy

* * *

_Damn_, thought Chainer as his chest was slashed open. Blood flowed freely from the terrific gash that went from his right shoulder to his diaphragm, a blow that would have killed any lesser man. Burns covered his body as the pillar of energy dissipated. He had known Ichigo was strong, but he had not expected the boy to attack him like that so soon. He lay on the ground, sprawled on his back motionless. It had been a while before anyone had every routed him so thoroughly and quickly before. The last one to do so was the one that had ordered the foolish invasion. That was a horrible experience, being beaten around for nearly an hour at the edge of his life unable to do anything until he acknowledged her power.

It had taken the consummation of a tool to survive Ichigo's combo. He had given Joseph Phillip's his power and just as quickly taken it away. The jinete felt his power returning but it was not returning fast enough to recover his body in time for another quick confrontation. As quickly as the black wave had smashed against him, Phillip's essence had restored him. It was unfortunate that he had to kill the man, but Chainer preferred to be alive.

Chainer heard footsteps as he remained motionless on the ground. They were coming closer slowly and the jinete could not feel any reiatsu emitting from the area. Already he could feel his body repairing the gash and burns with instant regeneration, but he would not be mobile in time to pick himself up and actually fight back. Instead he focused on stalling for time while he prepared his move.

"How can you take my Getsuga Tenshos and live?" asked a puzzled but calm Ichigo Kurosaki. His robe was ragged and in his right arm Tensa Zangetsu rested parallel to the ground.

"Ichigo," called out Chainer. He could hear the footsteps growing closer. They were merely a few feet away. Doubt spread throughout Chainer's mind; Ichigo would probably kill him before he could finish his spell… but if he could just stall long enough to prepare his next move he would be victorious. No one had ever resisted his next move, asides from the jinete Death and the queen.

"What is it Chainer?" asked Ichigo in a flat tone as he eyed the fallen jinete. Black mist was beginning to exude from the man's mouth, ears, and eyes. Clearly the jinete was planning something. Probably something dangerous.

"YOU LOSE!"

Chainer shouted as his body disappeared into the mist and it violently exploded. Ichigo tried to pull backwards but he felt his legs rooted to the ground. He quickly eyed downwards and saw three fiendish talons clawing up each leg, but he could not feel them. The orange haired boy cursed loudly at his own lack of guard as the mist reached him. Ichigo had allowed Chainer to release his Resurrecion.


	14. Chapter 13 point 5 Interlewd

**A/N: Chapter 13.5 is something I wrote while I worked on the next chapter. Yes it is dark. Sorry but thats how it came out. **

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING :O**

* * *

**Chapter 13.5 - Interlude**

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck sat on the edge of a cliff, stoically gazing over the edge of the horizon in the eternal night that was Hueco Mundo. Around her the remains of Orihime's barrier protected her from being seen or detected by anything that she did not wish to be found by. Her white bone mask adorned her head like a crown on a queen. Beneath her mask flowed untrimmed and long green hair that flowed softly in the night wind. She wore tattered black shinigami robes given to her by Rukia many years ago. The robes were a gift from the shinigami as a thank you for her friendship to them and to Ichigo for the short time she had known him. As such they were cut in the exact same style of robes that Ichigo wore. They reminded her of Ichigo, battle worn and built to stand the tests of time. They had done their job; they were still warm and protected her from the elements in the time she had spent there. Time that had not been traveled easily for her.

It had been ten years since she had regained her memories and adult form. Ten years since she had last seen Ichigo Kurosaki. Eight years had passed since she lost her fraccion to the jinete known as Chainer. Seven years since she had left las Noches and cut off communications with other espada and shinigami. Five years since she had lost the last person she could call a friend. Five years had passed since she had left that cliff face. In her self-imposed exile she had come to the sad conclusion that the world of Hueco Mundo was growing more savage than it had ever been in the past. No one she could call a friend remained, and the forces of both Hueco Mundo and Soul Society were determined to annihilate their opponents and fight to the bitter end. The world would surely be coming to an end soon, both of fiery rage and icy apathy.

Nel deplored violence. It stood for something that she had risen above. The act of raising arms against another person in anger was barbaric and reminded of her before she had ascended. Whenever she fought she felt a small bit of her stained soul cry out in pain. Ultimately her aversion to fighting needlessly had cost her a scar along her helmet, and memories of a time long gone.

Then Ichigo had walked into her life. Ichigo was different from anyone she had ever met. He was a human who was also a shinigami and a hollow. Whenever Ichigo fought he raised his blade to protect, not to destroy. Even the carnal instincts of his inner hollow defied death to protect - she had heard from Orihime many years ago about his hollow form during his fight with Ulquiorra. In the end he had defied a god and won, though he paid a great price to protect everything he held dear. After Ichigo had disappeared Orihime returned to Hueco Mundo and restored Nel's mask. Afterwards, Ichigo's shinigami friends had explained how he had passed on. Sacrificing his very existence to stop the man known as Aizen from destroying Karakura town and making the King's Key

The landscape seemed too surreal. In the dark tranquility her mind turned to Ichigo. His sacrifice had protected everything, yet in his absence everything he had sought to protect was becoming unraveled. Ichigo should have become king when he defeated Aizen; it was the law of Hueco Mundo. Instead, the vacant throne allowed for true terror to claim the land. The very thought hurt Nel's heart. If he were here everything would be right. She wouldn't be alone, her friends would not be dead, the three worlds would not have been going to hell, and the jinetes would never have had the power that they do now.

Nel missed Ichigo. He stood for good, for friendship, and for hope. She had not even been able to see him off. Like a hero he had marched to his death without a second thought. Like a coward she had not even been able to say how much he meant to her, not just as a friend for the short time they knew each other - but as a hero and savior that restored her hope. Ichigo Kurosaki would forever remain her hero and savior.

* * *

She had been there when the jinetes had declared that they would be destroying soul society. A great many arrancar had chosen to follow them, but she had refrained from siding with them. Ichigo had taught her that the quality of a person's character meant more than whether or not they were a shinigami or hollow. As such she refused to join them, Ichigo had made that much impact on her to say the least. Surprisingly enough, they had let her stay in the dome. Apparently they thought that with time she would aid them.

Then one day they brought in Ichigo's sister. They called her the queen and she thought their plans became clear to her. Through defeating Aizen Ichigo was supposed to have become the king. Unfortunately he was gone, and the jinetes had been forced to take the stage. The jinetes had put a relative of the rightful king on the throne and the will of Hueco Mundo accepted her. Originally she thought that their plan was just to install a new king upon the throne. She knew the consequences of putting anyone other than the rightful king on the throne. They were great and terrible.

Ichigo's sister had started off well, uniting various factions that still resisted the jinetes. Karin had often spoken to Nel about Ichigo's past and how wonderful of a person he was. She had aimed to be strong like him, for him. Karin Kurosaki was peaceful at heart until the corruption of a power that she could not handle began to crack her. Hueco Mundo would corrupt and slowly taint anyone that ruled and was not the rightful king.

After a single misinterpreted action by soul society Karin restarted the war with Soul Society. Karin would just as soon destroy soul society than make peace with the faction that her brother had once fought for. Nel, with her own eyes, had seen Karin defeat and kill the captain commander of soul society, one Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, in a brutal fight. That was when Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck realized the truth despite her attempts to look the other way. Los Jinetes del Apocolypsis were just using her to help them destroy the world and Karin was happily – albeit naively – following their plan.

Nel had sworn herself to exile after that point, her memories of Ichigo and peace hurt her too much. She simply could not bear to watch as the jinetes destroyed Ichigo's sister in their quest to destroy the world. On the same note there was nothing she could do to stop the actions from occurring. Karin was going mad and the jinetes were running wild, having managed to convince the queen that everything they did was for her. Interpreting her orders and laws to suit their own needs.

In her heart she mourned for Ichigo and his friends that she had seen pass on. They were in a better place while she lingered behind. A single tear fell from her eye as she watched the eternally vast star-lit sky. In the distance she saw a shooting star fall from the sky. In her mind she silently uttered the same wish that she always had for five years.

Nel simply wished not to die alone when the world ended.


	15. Chapter 14 Master of Puppets

**A/N: Chapter fourteen, the first of two or three absolutely stupidly overpowered chapters. Actually I take that back, this story kind of revolves around Ichigo being stupidly overpowered. Also; yes, the jinetes are also stupidly overpowered. They're supposed to be like that. ****If I break believability please let me know. Also, Kai got mad at me when I told him I was planning on killing off his character so I had to rewrite the plot.**

**For those asking, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck will have a role in this story. Her role is present in later chapters. Once insert plot device happens.**

**In unrelated news, this chapter was delayed for NINE DAYS due to - " Error Type 2; ****An error has occurred while processing your request.****Please email this error message to via (snip) All errors are logged for administrative and security purposes."**

**Disclaimer : I own nothing! (except a 1996 Toyoda Camry)**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen - Master of Puppets.

Ichigo staggered backwards as the black mist exploded towards him. Instinctively he closed his eyes to prevent it from blinding him. When he opened his eyes he found that it covered his body when it passed outwards. He nearly gagged on the foul smell as it invaded his mouth and nose. Next to him he could feel Chainer's reiatsu doubling in power.

Chainer had gone into his resurreccion form. He stood in front of Ichigo preparing to strike for split second. Chainer looked normal, but the sudden burst of power from his reiatsu told Ichigo otherwise. Then Ichigo saw the eyes. Like two soulless black holes, they dotted his forehead just below his black bone mask. Ichigo stared into them and shuttered, the black pits simply ground away at his sanity before he turned his head to regain it.

Regaining his composure, Ichigo noted that his weapons were also slightly different. At his hip rested his long dagger, which the jinete fondled passionately with his left hand. Golden runic characters glowed on the flat of the blade over the cold steel. In Chainer's right hand he held the handle to his ball and chain. The end of the weapon sat on the ground, rather than a spiked ball it had changed to a lantern-like container with spikes on the corners. From the center of the container a foul black substance exuded and hung lethargically in the air. The smog was thick, black, and suffocating.

Already Chainer was on the move. He lowered his black goggles over his eyes with his left hand to obscure the lack of eyes and prepared his assault. He flicked his right wrist and the incense lantern flew towards Ichigo. Black smoke puffed out of the weapon as it rocketed towards Ichigo.

Ichigo instinctively slashed outwards towards the chain as it barreled towards him. The edge of Tensa Zangetsu caught the head of the lantern and smashed it skyward like a homerun swing. The chained weapon flew some fifteen meters into the air before reaching the end of its leash and returning to Chainer, who was already moving.

Chainer gave his first failed attack no notice. He used sonido to close the distance between the two instantly and jabbed forth with his long dagger held in his left hand. Ichigo grabbed the outstretched hand with his left arm used the already ample momentum to throw the jinete into the ground. As Chainer was transitioning to the ground Ichigo used Zangetsu to deliver a vertical slash at Chainer's back.

Chainer winced in pain as the blade cut through his thick hierro and drew blood. Chainer hit the ground moments later and spun to recover his positioning, all the while spraying blood in a pinwheel like motion. Chainer finished his spin and recovered with three limbs on the ground, his arm with the chain grip held high like a whip to cover and block any incoming attack.

"Tell me Ichigo, do you know why my resurreccion did not change my form?" hissed Chainer.

"Don't know, don't care." shouted Ichigo as he rushed Chainer. As he closed the distance he slashed upwards with Zangetsu at the jinete's head.

Chainer pulled backwards to avoid the blow and landed nimbly on his feet. Ichigo was transitioning to make a downward slash with Zangetsu but Chainer was one step ahead of him. Chainer reached up with his left hand and grabbed Ichigo's sword hand. He whipped the chain on his arm horizontally at Ichigo who grabbed it just below the head with his free arm.

Chainer followed up with a swift knee to the chest as Ichigo pulled away to minimize the blow. With that the two combatants pulled away from each other to gain breathing room.

"I'll tell you anyways," said Chainer as the lantern impaled the ground next to his feet, still exuding the thick black smoke, "my resurreccion befits the greatest being capable of corruption… humanity."

"I said I don't care." said Ichigo as he charged a Getsuga Tensho in his sword. He haphazardly slung the blade without pivoting his body and simply sidearm lobbed a black arc of power at the jinete. Despite Chainer's massive gain in power he still paled in comparison to Ichigo's power. Chainer jumped up over the attack and continued talking as it crashed into the already blasted landscape in the background.

"Humanity, more so than anything else, is responsible for all the destruction and corruption in the three worlds. Everything must be bent to the will of the owner. I was there when the spirit king decided to throw an asteroid at the dinosaurs. I was there when they crucified Jesus Christ. When world war two ended with the atomic bombs, I was there. I even got the Rolling Stones to write a song about me. It was a pretty fucking epic song too."

"What I want to know is how you gained so much power so quickly." said Ichigo in his trademark scowl. He flash stepped behind Chainer and swung upwards with his blade. Tensa Zangetsu hit nothing but air as Chainer used sonido to pull out of slashing range and flipped around.

"You know... You could at least act like you're mildly interested," spat Chainer. From his defensive maneuver he whipped his chain around his arm and threw it at Ichigo. The shinigami simply batted it away with his hand as their blades connected with each other. Tensa Zangetsu moved upwards as the back of Chainer's long dagger lowered to block it.

As quickly as Chainer blocked the attack, the jinete pulled away. He gained several dozen feet in safe distance when he began to twist his chained lantern around in a circle around his body. Ichigo suspected a trap and decided to back away. Thick smoke poured from the chained lantern as the weapon began to move quicker and quicker. Smog covered the area around Chainer and obscured most of his body from vision. From behind the cloud, Ichigo heard Chainer cackle before speaking.

"Actually, I've got a better Idea…"

* * *

Rukia watched as Ichigo and Chainer danced in a merciless waltz. Around them buildings shattered from the shockwaves of the two connecting. Her right arm held her sealed zanpokuto, Sode no Shirayuki, while her left hand clutched the two chains that had once latched upon her chest. She slowly rose to her feet and began to walk towards Ichigo. She knew that she would only get in his way and that she was better off sitting on the sidelines. Despite that, she still found herself walking towards them slowly against her will.

Her feet moved themselves as she walked. Around her waves of energy crashed upon the surroundings and blasted the already decimated landscape. It was as though the raging armies were forgotten, a relic of the past. All that remained were the two titans in the middle of the annihilated landscape. They moved rapidly as they struck out, each one vying for a position of superiority in which to strike down the other. The combatants moved with such rapidity that Rukia could barely see them; though, she did see them.

_Ichigo has to be toying with that jinete_, thought Rukia as she inched closer and closer to the fight. This was the man who singlehandedly beat Aizen. Moments ago Ichigo had tossed the jinete around like a rag doll. She had felt the man go into his resurreccion, but it should not have given him enough power to fight with Ichigo on a nearly even level. Ichigo was either toying with the jinete or just not trying. She prayed that it was the former, and not the latter.

* * *

Urahara eyed his opponent as he held his weapon at the ready. Opposite him stood Kai, the third Jinete del Apocalypsis - also known as famine. They stood perfectly still as they waited for their next move. Within moments, the match would be over and a victor would be moving on. The loser would be dead.

"I use channel for fifteen mana and fireball for fourteen." said Kai as he moved his hand to his cards and dropped a fireball onto the table.

"I cast mana drain targeting your fireball." replied Urahara as he tapped a pair of volcanic islands and played the counterspell.

"I use force of will, paying one life and pitching a stifle," replied Kai as he cautiously played his down his hand.

"I cast misdirection targeting your fireball and changing its target to you; provided it resolves." replied Urahara. He dropped one card from his hand into the exile zone and threw the magic card onto the table. Then turned his head to Kai and waited for his next move. To his enjoyment Kai began to pick up his cards and shuffle them back into his library.

"All right, I lost. What would you like to know?"

* * *

Chainer slowly began to spin his chained lantern around himself. Thick, black smoke bellowed from the lantern as it puffed the substance. Slowly Chainer raised the top of the lantern chain over his head and spun it fiercely, the smoke collecting in the area around him. Ichigo watched as the smoke completely covered Chainer and obscured him from vision. Suddenly two large reiatsu signatures erupted from the circle of smoke and charged Ichigo.

"Corromper!" screamed Chainer as he suddenly let the incense lantern smash into the ground. With a crash the incense lantern loosened dirt and the smoke began to fade. Ichigo saw the two figures erupt from the smoke but could scarcely believe his eyes as the two characters moved to attack him. With Zangetsu still chained to his right hand he raised his blade to defend himself against his new opponents.

Ichigo pulled up Tensa Zangetsu to block the incoming attacks. The black steel of Zangetsu met the incoming attack and ripped into the inferior weapon that was brought against him. Lisa Yadomaru's gigantic steel spear shattered upon impact with Ichigo's blade as the startled shinigami pulled away from his attacker. Surprise clearly read on Ichigo's face as he looked at his attacker.

Lisa Yadomaru, vizard and friend of Ichigo Kurosaki for a short time. She had on her mask to obscure her face and wore her sailor's uniform. Her zanpokuto began to reform in her hands as she backed away from the shinigami she had attacked. What startled Ichigo the most though was the combine fact that her reiatsu was identical to Chainer; and that she was in an entirely grayscale.

Ichigo was startled enough that he barely managed to jump over his second attacker. Hiyori Sarugaki swung her saw like zanpokuto with one hand at Ichigo's face. Like his first assailant she had on her mask and was entirely grayscale. Again, her reiatsu was identical to Chainer.

"Pervert! Snaggle-tooth!" shouted Kurosaki in surprise, "It's me Ichigo! What the hell are you guys doing?"

The two grayscale vizards ignored his comments as they moved towards him with the same speed of Chainer. In unison they struck out at Ichigo who barely dodged the giant fan while slicing into Hiyori's blade. Without relenting the pair reversed their strikes and swung again at Ichigo. This time he could not evade the spear and was forced to catch it in his hand while he deflected hiyori's blade. In his palm a very small cut formed and trickled a small amount of blood. Suddenly they pulled back from the surprised shinigami and flash stepped to Chainer's side.

"They can't answer you Ichigo." laughed Chainer, "They're merely puppets now. Many years ago I enslaved them to my will. The friends you knew are dead - don't kid yourself. They were resistant at first, but over time my will broke theirs. Now their power adds to my own."

"Their souls are mine," added Chainer with a perverse grin on his face, "so long as I control their souls they will do my bidding. You don't have it in you to kill them though, this is my victory."

Ichigo watched as the two vizards moved into attack positions. Inside his mind he weighed the truth value of Chainer's comments against the situation he now found himself in. Ichigo prepared to dodge their attacks as his inner hollow and zanpokuto spoke to him. With perfect harmony Ichigo moved as they spoke to him.

"_**They're gone Ichigo, enslaved to his will.**_"said Zangetsu, his cold and calculating voice filled Ichigo's right ear. "_**Their reiatsu is identical to his.**_"

"**Corruption, what a bullshit power,**" commented Shirosaki, rife with arrogance, "**Corruption of the weak. It will have no power over me.**"

"_**Still, truly death must be a better option than eternal enslavement. I doubt that they would want that fate Ichigo.**_"

Ichigo nodded as he raised his zanpokuto to block the incoming vizards attacks. As Hiyori swung at him, Ichigo maneuvered around the blade and invaded her guard. Ichigo's superior speed allowed him plenty of leeway with his motions – whatever had happened to Hiyori had taken away her personal flare but not her fighting style. With one fell blow Zangetsu cut through Hiyori's neck and severed her head from her body. Smoke radiated off her fatal cut as she transformed into a cloud of smoke. Still carrying the momentum, he rotated to his next target. With a surge of force Ichigo drove Zangetsu straight into Lisa Yadomaru's heart. Smoke radiated from the wound as Zangetsu ran her through. Just like Hiyori she disappeared into a cloud of the smoke. Ichigo could hear the first jinete turning irate.

"I know my friends, they would rather have death than eternal enslavement." said Ichigo. He snapped his wrist and with a quick motion Tensa Zangetsu was held at the ready. It's long and sharp tip aimed straight at the master of the two people he had just killed. Anger showed on Ichigo's face behind his trademark scowl. Determination and honor read off his body.

"You have no honor jinete. Everyone else that you have bent to your perverted command will be freed when I kill you. I promise on the memories of those you have enslaved that today you will die."

"Let's see you keep that promise," spat Chainer as he moved the chained lantern around him again, "your first promise was shit."

* * *

"Tell me about the jinetes, then." said Urahara as he continued to sit at his table. "Clearly you could have killed me if you wanted to... and not just in that card game either. Why are you allowing yourself to talk?"

Kai shifted his eyes and took a deep drink from his tea, politely refilled by the man's third seat. In his left hand he gripped his staff and rolled it in his palm. In the background shockwaves of energy pulsed through the Seireitei where Chainer and Ichigo were fighting. It was causing an awful lot of destruction for just two people. Kai contemplated for a moment before speaking.

"Los Jinetes del Apocolypis are exactly as we are named." explained Kai. "We are the harbingers of the destruction of Hueco Mundo. We are millennia old hollows of unspeakable and unrivaled power; close to invincible in power. Simply by being here today we are pushing Hueco Mundo – and by connection, Soul Society and Earth – towards destruction. For the past thousand years we have acted as the guiding force for Hueco Mundo."

"The purpose of the jinetes was simple. Hueco Mundo and soul society cannot exist without a strong enough soul to absorb the flows of energy into and out of the worlds - to shape the will you can say. The Spirit King, for example, is in charge of doing this for soul society. Hueco Mundo's spirit king died without a suitable replacement and it began to decay. Millenia ago we were put to sleep to stabilize Hueco Mundo's energies. While we slept, the four of us channeled the will of Hueco Mundo and prevented it from decaying further. We no longer sleep and we have lost control of the will of Hueco Mundo; now the realm is slowly beginning to collapse again."

"We were awakened when Aizen became the king. In his arrogance he used the Hogyoku on our resting forms. He thought he had awoken great Vastos Lordes with that tool, but he was wrong. Aizen, in his arrogance, unwittingly started the events that you see today. He sealed us away and planned on bending us to his will after he ascended; all the while unaware that he had unchained and destabilized Hueco Mundo's spiritual flows. Now he is gone and there is no one to control the powers of Hueco Mundo."

"Would you seek to find a new king? Someone to absorb the powers of Hueco Mundo?" asked Urahara as he drank from his cup. He eyed the jinete cautiously, yet could not detect any form of deception or malicious intent.

"We did when we were awoken," answered Kai, "but that has changed. There is no soul strong and pure enough to channel the will and power of Hueco Mundo. Those that are not pure are burned away in time by the corruptive power of Hueco Mundo. We have seen many strong souls over the millennia but none pure enough to control Hueco Mundo for long. The jinetes have grown tired of their eternal task. Since we have not once found someone pure enough to control the will, we seek death for everyone."

"So you seek to destroy everything including yourselves. Is it safe to assume you started world war three?"

"Yes, strain the balance of souls until it snapped. Speed up the destruction and destroy both worlds as quickly as possible. Without a ruler for Hueco Mundo the destruction is inevitable, we are merely speeding up the process."

"But you made Karin Kurosaki the queen of Hueco Mundo, explain that."

"When Aizen was defeated, the person who beat him had the potential to become the king. Instead, he disappeared. As a relative to the one who should have been king, her very presence tips the balance of souls over the edge. Hueco Mundo recognizes her presence as being similar to the rightful king, but not the same. She is strong but not pure – nor does she know the responsibility of being the queen. Just by being there and continuing this war she is bringing about our plan. She will not be able to continue the plan much longer though; Hueco Mundo has already begun to reject her will."

"But why do you tell me this?" asked Urahara. His bewilderment was contained beneath his perfect mask.

"The other Jinetes have abandoned the idea that the world can be saved. I have not."

* * *

Chainer had sheathed his long dagger. In his left hand he held the edge of his chained lantern. The lantern bellowed a thick and demonic smoke as Chainer swung it in a circle around his right hand. Beneath his mask smoke exuded from the black holes where his eyes should have been.

Chainer suddenly threw the lantern at Ichigo. Using the sudden change in inertia the lantern sped towards the shinigami with frightening speed. Calmly Ichigo slashed outwards at the weapon with Zangetsu, blocking and deflecting the weapon sending it back to its owner. Black smoke continued to flake off the lantern.

"I'm more comfortable with my chains," laughed Chainer as he used the backwards momentum of the lantern to begin its spin in another circle. The black smoke again radiated as Ichigo prepared his moments.

The smoke fogged up as the lantern circled around Chainer. Surges of reiatsu pulsed from the new combatant as his sword rushed forward. Ichigo pulled up Zangetsu to block the attack and was sent skyward as his opponent's giant form hit him like a bad golfer.

Captain Sajin Konamura stood in silence as he watched Ichigo being sent skywards by his bankai. Behind his grayscale body stood his bankai, Kokujo Tengaen Myo'o. Chainer smiled in amusement as he watched the shinigami slowly tail off into the air. Captain Konamura had been a hard won victory; he was far weaker before he captured the captain. Enslaving Konamura had given him a lot of power, both for him and his puppet.

* * *

Rukia stared in amazement as she watched the former captain of the seventh squad launch Ichigo into the air. Captain Sajin Konamura had gone missing during the start of world war three and the Gotai 13 had declared him dead. Despite her disbelief she knew her eyes were right. She noticed the grayscale coloring and realized how the captain had met his fate.

Rukia wanted to leave the cover of her blasted hole to help Ichigo. She knew, however, that she would only get in his way. Instead she waited in her relative safety and watched as Chainer jumped skyward with captain Konamura towards Ichigo.

* * *

Ichigo used his elevated position to read the battlefield. Around him the Seireitei and Rukongai were in shambles. Fires and fighting had destroyed well over half the Seireitei. His immediate fighting area with Chainer had leveled roughly a quarter of the Seireitei alone. On the ground, speck-like shinigami watched in horror as the enslaved Konamura took the sky with his bankai and Chainer behind him.

Ichigo respected captain Konamura. His bankai gave him incredible destructive powers and it was moderately fast. If he underestimated the power of the attacks he would be annihilated under them. Ichigo also knew the weakness of Konamura's bankai, having seen Aizen slice apart the bankai to break the captain in the past. He also factored in Chainer; no doubt the jinete would eventually take the stage and fight with his slaves.

With those thoughts in mind Ichigo watched as Konamura ascended. With his sword held high in two hands Ichigo read the incoming attack. Konamura was rising rapidly with his bankai behind him, but he was out of range for its massive form to strike from. Konamura would come in above him and slash downwards. Ichigo prepared his move, rather than block he would evade the attack and get in below the arms of the giant. His goal was to cut the arms off the giant and disable the captain.

As the giant finished its ascent Ichigo moved to maneuver around the left side of the blade. Suddenly he was forced to shift his momentum backwards to avoid a second incoming attack. On his left Chainer had sent a massive spire of black energy to cut of his escape route. Ichigo pulled to the right of the blade, only to have a similar black spire of energy rise against him. With nowhere to go, Ichigo prepared to do the only action left for him. As Konamura's Bankai bore down on Ichigo he raised his blade to block the attack.

Konamura's blade began to crack as it delivered the energy of the blow into Ichigo's Zangetsu. Immediately Ichigo was sent downwards as though he was the target of a whack-a-mole game. The blade continued to saw against Ichigo as he continued to hold Tensa Zangetsu to block the attack.

* * *

Rukia slowly crawled out of her crater and slowly advanced on the battlefield. Around her she could see and feel the devastation that had happened to Soul Society. The hollow army that had initially flooded into the Seireitei and Rukongai was being routed. Captains and their divisions were slowly pushing them out. Around her, though, the damage was obvious – there was no question that there would be staggering casualties and an even more staggering amount of property damage. Even Ichigo was partaking in the damage, having to destroy the background simply due to his presence in a fight against the jinete.

_If I get any closer I'll be vaporized_, thought Rukia as she stopped behind a boulder that was miraculously still standing. Ahead of her Ichigo was fighting with Chainer and what appeared to be the former captain known as Konamura. It appeared as though Ichigo had gotten serious, but he was fighting a losing battle. Rukia kept her faith in Ichigo, however. She had to trust that Ichigo would win; her instincts told her that he would.

Rukia stared down at the chains in her left hand. They surged with energy as Ichigo fought. The black chain felt exactly like the echoes of Ichigo's reiatsu that radiated in her bones felt like. The white chain felt exactly like her own reiatsu, only slightly different from her zanpokuto - Sode no Shirayuki. It felt like a premonition, though it was too early to make predictions.

* * *

Konamura's bankai tore into Ichigo as the shinigami raised his blade at the last moment. The force of the initial impact cracked the blade of the giant as it drove Ichigo towards the ground like a railroad spike. With Zangetsu held high, Ichigo continued to grind his zanpokuto against Sajin's Kokujo Tengaen Myo'o. Steel sparks showered off the impact as Zangetsu remained perfectly sharp while the giant's blade continued to crack. Finally Ichigo ran out of space and the giant drove him into the ground.

Ichigo landed on his feet and held the blunt end of Zangetsu within the palm of his left hand as he took the force of the blow. Around him cracked pavement shattered in a circle around him. For what seemed like an eternity the giant continued to push while Ichigo stood against it. Finally, after a brutal few seconds the giant pulled up on the blade.

Instantly Ichigo seized the opportunity to counterattack. Using his extreme speed he flash stepped to the right hand of the giant and raced along the arm. As he ran he dragged Zangetsu along the giant appendage. Gore sprouted like a geyser from the massive gash as Ichigo reached the elbow before Konamura could react. A similar wound appeared on the enslaved captain.

With a mighty heave Ichigo slammed a Getsuga Tensho vertically into the upper arm of the giant. The flesh shuddered under the impact and exploded as the bone splintered and shattered backwards. Likewise, similar wounds appeared on Sajin Konamura as Ichigo carried out his counterattack. Blood gushed from the giant and the captain as Ichigo backed off.

Ichigo pulled off the giant's arm as he studied the arm he had nearly severed. Only a small amount of burned flesh kept the arm attached to the body. Additionally the wound bled gratuitous amounts of blood as Ichigo moved in again to strike. Ichigo held Zangetsu horizontally as he charged a Getsuga Tensho. He aimed the blast at the neck of the giant. Ichigo would decapitate the crippled captain and end his misery; as someone originally fiercely loyal to the Gotai 13 Konamura deserved a quick death. Ichigo reached his location and attempted to send the attack off.

Ichigo released the Getsuga Tensho as Chainer's chains smashed into the blade. As a result the shot went wild and missed the enslaved captain completely. Ichigo paid no attention to the miss-shot and moved towards the origin point of the interception.

* * *

Rukia felt the chains surge with power and she dropped to ground. Less than a second later a black Getsuga Tensho ripped through the air above her and shattered the top of the rock. If she had been any slower the blast would have taken off her head.

_That moron_, thought Rukia. He said he would protect her, not kill her. She was going to be beating him afterwards. With that thought, though, she chuckled to herself. Ichigo was so much stronger than her, yet he never resisted the berating and beatings. Surely he secretly enjoyed them. _He must be a masochist, that's got to be it._

The energy in the black chain surged again and Rukia felt another recklessly thrown Getsuga Tensho streaming towards her. She flipped her body off the ground, jumped to her feet, and then realized exactly how the attack would come. Time moved in slow motion as she saw the black pillar of power raging towards her.

Her heart sunk as she realized that she would not be able to dodge this one as she had the last. This Getsuga Tensho was too tall and far too wide to move around. She raised her arms to her head and prepared for the attack. As the wave neared her she closed her eyes, waiting for the end and the hands of her friend.

To her surprise she felt a warm tingling sensation as the pulse of energy passed around her. As quickly as it hit her, the black wave passed. It left a slight amount of static electricity in her hair and the chains in her left hand glowed with power, but other than that she was perfectly fine. Around her the Getsuga Tensho destroyed what remained of buildings and scenery as it chewed into the Seireitei.

* * *

Chainer was ready for Ichigo as they slammed into each other with their blades. In midair Chainer's long dagger was held vertically against a horizontal swing by Ichigo. Ichigo slashed into Chainer another six times that second as he swung Zangetsu with seemingly no readable pattern. Chainer kept up his defense and blocked all six swings while his lantern moved behind him. On the sixth swing Ichigo drove a black wave of energy into Chainer's dagger. The jinete held the blade steady as the golden runes on the flat of the blade glowed with power. Tensa Zangetsu cut deeply into Chainer's long dagger before slicing it cleanly in two. Golden darkness radiated from the blade before it exploded into thousands of shards in Chainer's hand.

_Shit_, thought Chainer as leapt backwards and tried to pull away from the shinigami, without his long dagger his defenses were severely crippled. Being defenseless was not a situation he wanted to be in with his opponent. As Chainer was pulling back he noted that Ichigo would continue to be pressing his advantage. He willed his injured slave into action as he prepared his attack.

From behind his back, Chainer's chain arced widely. With lightning speed he brought his right arm to bear and swung it at Ichigo while he continued to move away from the boy. Black incense flittered through the air as the lantern sped towards its target. The chain careened towards Ichigo's head when the shinigami simply snapped his left arm into the path. Ichigo caught it with his open left hand as he continued to swing vicious strikes with Tensa Zangetsu in his right hand. Ichigo was closing the distance rapidly and Chainer could only hope that his slave had been properly motivated to move.

"Try harder," taunted Ichigo as he gripped the chain with his left hand. Suddenly he twisted his body around and shot a Getsuga Tensho in the direction where his back had been.

The black pillar of energy smashed into the giant face of Konamura's bankai. As the pillar ate into the giant's face it began to collapse into smoke. In one fell blow he had ended the onslaught of the former captain. He gave it no thought, however, as immediately he returned to Chainer's direction and swung Tensa Zangetsu vertically down onto the jinete that was in front of him. With the lantern still in Ichigo's left hand Chainer was unable to pull away without releasing his weapon – which was something the jinete would not do.

Tensa Zangetsu sliced the air as Ichigo brought the blade down with enough force to shatter a mountain. Shockwaves rang out as metal met metal and the immediate background behind Chainer shattered around him. Immediately Ichigo released the lantern and pulled away in an infinitely quick burst of shunpo. Once he was a few hundred feet away Ichigo scowled and scoffed at the great longsword that had prevented him from killing the first jinete.

"Veldrane…"

* * *

Preview:

_This is fucking annoying_, bitched Ichigo in his mind. The jinetes were just playing a numbers game on him and slowly exploiting any openings he had. Any wounds he suffered were sticking while his own attacks were being repaired by the jinetes' high speed regeneration.

"**_Tell me about it_**," sighed Shirosaki, "_**Let me know when you feel like putting your mask on, mmkay?**_"


End file.
